Date: 11/21/24 4:54 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: [NFLbirds] November at SMNWR
I got out to my listening spot on the Stony Bayou levee at St. Marks NWR
and waited for the Wood Duck morning flight. A front had passed through
overnight leaving clear skies and I was there early enough to watch a
bone-white full moon as it settled into the clouds on the western horizon.
By then, the eastern horizon was glowing red as the night began to fade
away. Robins started calling from the brush along the levee’s edge. I tried
to estimate how many there were. I guessed ten, but at first light, as the
robins began to fly to the treeline across the marsh, I counted over a
hundred.
The robins all left quickly. Over the next half hour, as I began to survey
for ducks, I watched as Yellow-rumped Warblers flew from the levees and
marsh islands. They were also heading to the treeline. Both the robins and
yellow-rumps were exhibiting a pattern shown by southbound migrant birds
that have arrived overnight and either landed on the last land available or
may have overshot the coast and turned back. They move to better feeding
habitat in the morning, in this case the swamps and woods north of Stony
Bayou.
There were only three Wood Ducks in the morning flight, an omen of what
was to come. By the time I finished surveying, I had logged only 341 ducks
of thirteen species. This is the lowest number of ducks that I have ever
had on a November survey. Species diversity was at the low end of the
range. There should be sixteen or seventeen species of waterfowl here by
mid-November.
The majority of the ducks on the refuge were Green-winged Teal, which were
in normal numbers. Several duck species were present in lower numbers than
expected in November; Blue-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Gadwall and
Ring-necked Duck. A few expected ducks were absent; Mallard, Northern
Pintail and Hooded Merganser. I saw three blue morph Snow Geese, two adults
and a juvenile. November is often the best month for Snow Goose sightings
at St. Marks.
This looks like a repeat of last winter’s duck season when warm weather
and ice-free waters up north kept ducks from coming down in their usual
numbers. Current water temperatures in the Great Lakes are abnormally high
for this time of year. This is not a good sign.
Mid-November is when we see the last of our winter residents arriving.
Over the course of the morning, I saw swirling flocks of hundreds of white
pelicans heading slowly eastward. There were also flocks of Turkey Vultures
floating up in rising air thermals. Vultures ride the thermals up and,
then, glide downwind losing altitude as they look for another thermal. It
is a slow, but energy efficient way to migrate. These birds were all moving
along the coast and will winter down in peninsular Florida.
Perhaps they will stop in at Disney World along the way.
Thanksgiving is coming up fast. Whether you see St. Marks NWR as a place
to bird, bike, fish, hike, or hunt, take a moment to give thanks to the
federal employees who had the idea of establishing a 53-acre national
wildlife refuge on the North Florida coast back in 1931. Give thanks too,
to all of the staff who have grown the refuge and kept it going since
then. St. Marks is now an 80,000-acre refuge with roads, boat ramps,
levees, pools, picnic areas, a visitor’s center, and a lighthouse.
It’s a great national wildlife refuge. Come and see!
