Heather and I have been spoiled from the start with this Big Year. She's based on the edge of the mountains in North Georgia and I'm based in Tallahassee, Florida within striking distance of many incredible birding locales. This summer, we are here in Tallahassee together and have been taking full advantage of that fact.
The best thing about Tallahassee, in my opinion, is the diversity of habitats that surround the city. Some of these are urban retention ponds like Lake Elberta or water treatment facilities like the Tram Road Holding Ponds. Those two places, in fact, provided new birds for us this year that include Wood Stork, Cooper's Hawk, Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Sandpiper. And then you have the natural areas.
Tallahassee is surrounded by protected pieces of habitat. Some of the last remaining old-growth longleaf pine forests grow to our north. Lake Jackson and Lake Talquin contain prime habitat for waterfowl to our north and west. Apalachicola National Forest, to our west and south, protects a huge diversity of habitats ranging from mesic flatwoods to cypress swamps. Then, to our east, lay a huge swath of protected land in the form of L. Kirk Edwards Wildlife and Environmental Area, Aucilla Wildlife Management Area, and St. Marks River Preserve State Park.
One of the absolute natural treasures of our area, however, sits just outside of the zone surrounding Tallahassee. It's our closest access to the Gulf of Mexico and has the third highest species list of any birding location in Florida. It's only 35 minutes from where I live and has already produced more bird species for us than any other hotspot, by far. This place, if you didn't guess already, is St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
I serve as the president of our local Audubon chapter, Apalachee Audubon, and our field trips this year have been led by one of the best local birders, Jeff O'Connell. When I saw that he was offering a trip to St. Marks NWR, I knew that Heather and I had to go.
On May 18, we loaded up in the car with Jeff and a few others to head down to St. Marks NWR. Our first stop was the visitor center. We simply stood still and listened, picking up our first Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Orchard Oriole within a minute. We next birded down by the "double bridges" that cross over cypress swamp. This is usually a reliable place to see Prothonotary Warblers and lots of biting insects. And we weren't disappointed by either! We recorded our first Prothonotary Warbler, which was calling from overhead, while swatting violently at yellow flies and no-see-ums.
A bit further down the road to the lighthouse at St. Marks NWR, two dikes lead east from the road. This spot, known as....double dikes, often produces with good birds. Today was no different. Our first Forster's Tern flew by almost as soon as we left the car. Jeff and Heather used their scope to pick through the many shorebirds running along the mud flats in front of us. Within a few minutes, we had our first Semipalmated Plovers as well. I should make it known now that I think plovers are some of the cutest birds around. I just love them.
Sandpipers, as any birder knows, can be tough. Jeff patiently helped us identify least and western sandpipers, and offered interesting facts about separating eastern and western willets from one another (we saw both, though they are currently considered to be a single species).
Jeff spotted the most exciting bird of the day just a short distance down the levee from where the sandpipers were. Walking along, we flushed a bird that looked different from any I had ever seen. "Bobolink!", Jeff exclaimed! Not only was this female our first Bobolink of the year, but it was Heather's first Bobolink ever! We got great looks of this beautiful rarity, and the entire group couldn't believe our luck this early in the day.
We drove on and pulled over near the swampy pond by the bathrooms. A gnarled, dead tree in the corner of this pond almost always has Black-crowned Night Herons and this day was no different. While admiring the unusual night herons, I looked down and saw our first Purple Gallinule of the year! What a gorgeous bird! Their feet seem impossibly huge, and their colors way too extravagant for their surroundings. We took good, long looks at the gallinule and then were amazed to see another one, perched in a tree much closer to us. I've never seen gallinules of any species walk up tree branches, and neither had anyone else in the group. Super weird.
St. Marks NWR transitions rapidly from mesic flatwoods to open salt marsh as the influence of the Gulf becomes stronger. It was here in the salt marsh that we picked up two more species with little effort. The calls of Clapper Rails let us know that several were around, although we didn't see any of these elusive birds at first. Our luck changed when we saw one probing the shallow mud flats on the edge of the grass. We would go on to see four more of these birds, a notable number for a representative of one of the hardest-to-see groups of birds.
The other new bird was a barely-visible brown speck perched on top of a clump of salt marsh grass. We heard something, looked for brown specks, and then put the scopes on the specks. As we guessed, they were Seaside Sparrows. These cute sparrows have a yellow streak by their eye that distinguishes them and are one of the species that are tough to get in the area outside of St. Marks NWR. We were thrilled to finally get them after several times of trying.
The main road through St. Marks NWR ends at a historic lighthouse right on the Gulf of Mexico. A short trail goes around a pond known as Lighthouse Pool. We took this trail, scanning large grass clumps for one of the few Ardeids (herons and egrets) we had yet to see. A flash of orange and white flying by and landing in one such clump let us know that search efforts there paid off. A scan with the binoculars revealed a gorgeous Least Bittern skulking through the shallows among the grass. Least Bitterns, like the Seaside Sparrow, can be tough birds to find. We were cleaning up!
As happens often in Florida this time of year, the day was getting hot. Everyone was running out of gas so we decided to make only one more stop. Jeff thought it would be worthwhile to stop back at the mud flats to see if any other shorebirds turned up. As usual, his intuition was correct. We parked and immediately heard the distinct call of Black-necked Stilts. Not only were these our first for the year, but they had little babies! If you've never seen juvenile Black-necked Stilts, you're missing out. The little balls of fluff were being led by their mom and dad around the marsh, and we could hear the other members of the group say, "awww" as soon as they left their cars. The dad occasionally left his young to fly aggressively at some other stilts that showed up in the area. Humans, of course, aren't the only animals that go out of their way to protect their young.
The stilts eventually got to the road where they hoped to cross. Many cars passed, but we stood at the road to make sure no birds were hit. Why people, especially anglers, feel the need to race down the road through St. Marks NWR is a question I'll probably never understand the answer to. The amount of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals hit on the road is way too high for this reason. We stayed with the birds as long as we could until we felt that they were safe.
Jeff was anxious to head back but Heather's intern who had joined us for the morning, Zach, wanted to try one more time for different shorebirds. We took the scopes out and scanned the mudflats. For awhile, we saw nothing new. Then, a bird with a distinct white rump flew by rapidly. "White-rumped Sandpiper!", Jeff yelled. I got a good look at it, while Heather only saw the bird but no detail. Regardless, I was pumped since this was our first of the year and it was the first one I had ever seen! What a way to end the day!
Heather and I are very lucky to have such a productive conservation area so close to Tallahassee. We definitely have an advantage by living so close, to so much. Oh, and there's also Fermentation Lounge, our go-to beer spot whenever we are in Tallahassee together. :-)
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