Date: 6/1/25 11:08 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: [NFLbirds] June at SMNWR
It is June at St. Marks NWR and the season slowly shifts into full summer.
This month marks the end of Spring migration. Ten million birds have
already crossed over the refuge this year on their northward journey.
Another hundred thousand or so, mostly sandpipers, will pass through during
the early part of June, but the excitement of Spring migration is over for
another year.
Late June is the low point of bird life at the refuge. Avian diversity is
down by a third and there are only about one hundred and twenty species on
the refuge. There are also many fewer birds. By late June there may be only
a fifth of the total number of birds that there were on the refuge in late
January. Winter bird numbers are boosted by species like Dunlin and Redhead
that occur in huge flocks. Additionally, the distribution of many of our
summer birds is based on dispersed territories and they are less visible
than the wintering birds that were concentrated in flocks on the mudflats,
pools, and open water along Lighthouse Road.
June is a quieter time. However, life never stands still at St. Marks and
there is always lot going on at the refuge.
As birds shift from setting up territories to parental duties, bird song
is diminished. Some of our summer breeders have already fledged. Parula
warblers are feeding young in the East River floodplain at the Double
Bridges and half-sized Willets are following their parents on the
Lighthouse salt flats. Some species, like Swallow-tailed Kites, still have
young in the nest.
This is the peak month for Roseate Spoonbills and Reddish Egrets in the
pools and ponds along Lighthouse Road. They breed in peninsular Florida. By
June they have completed their nesting cycle and have begun to disperse
northward.
There are Black-necked Stilts on East River Pool. This species breeds at
the refuge, but their rudimentary nests are only slightly above water level
and are susceptible to flood events. If their nests are flooded, stilts
will not attempt to renest and usually leave the area.
The first of the summer fruits are ripening. Watch for birds feeding on
swamp dogwood in the East River floodplain at the Double Bridges. Along
Tower Pond Trail, blueberries and huckleberries are attracting towhees and
grackles. Summer flowers, like American Beautyberry and Elderberry, are
blooming. Their fruit will ripen in time to feed Fall migrants. Sawgrass
seed stalks are sticking up in the marshes, providing perches for
dragonflies, like the pennants, darners and pondhawks that prey on flies
and mosquitos.
June is just one more point on the refuge’s annual seasonal cycle. The
seasons at St. Marks shift and change in a reasonably predictable pattern
caused by the revolution of the earth around the sun and the tilt of its
axis. The earth has been revolving around the sun for almost five billion
years and there is every indication that it will continue to do so for the
foreseeable future.
You, however, have a strictly delimited lifespan. Come down to St. Marks
and immerse yourself in the changing season. It’s hot and a little buggy,
but relative to the earth, you don’t have much time left. Hurry down to the
refuge. You don’t want to miss this.
