It was 37 degrees when I rolled through the gates of St. Marks NWR at 6:00 am this morning. I stopped at the Double Bridges to listen for owls. It was a cold quiet night, only the tinkling trill of water in the North branch of the East River. Scorpio hung in the open sky to the South. There was no moon.
I walked slowly, stopping every few feet to listen. As I neared the second bridge over the East River’s South branch, I heard a rolling screeching scream out in the woods. I stood in the middle of the road wondering what might be the source of the sound. It repeated a few times, moving away from me. I considered Bobcat or the death cry from some hapless animal, but decided that it was likely the call of an immature Barred Owl.
My consideration of the sound’s source took place over about five minutes during which time I was standing still in the middle of Lighthouse Road. At this point I heard footsteps approaching me. Now, I don’t carry a flashlight. If you’re going out into the night, you need to commit to the darkness. I assumed that I was being approached by a small animal and waited to see what it might be. When it was about twenty feet away, I could make out a knee-high quadruped in the dim light of predawn; at ten feet it turned around and began running away. I think that it was a Bobcat.
I moved down Lighthouse Road and parked at the Double Dikes to wait for sunrise. By now it was nearing first light and the Eastern sky was brightening noticeably. From the marsh North of the Double Dikes, a King Rail began its territory call and was quickly joined by several others, each staking out its patch of marsh. Rails are nocturnal marsh birds and King Rails are found in the refuge’s freshwater marshes. Large birds, about fifteen inches from bill tip to tail, they usually begin their breeding cycle in late January or early February. Their mating call is sometimes described as clucking. It’s a kek-kek-kek and goes on and on. In the background I could hear smaller winter rails, Virginia and Sora. A Barred Owl was hooting in the distance from the far side of East River Pool.
I went back to the car and grabbed my scope to check for the American Flamingo on East River Pool. I saw it there yesterday morning, but it left about 8:30 am, putting on a flyover show for a small group that included local and Danish birders. Today, there was no flamingo and I moved on.
I made stops and birded the South end of Mounds Pool III, Headquarters, Tower & Picnic Ponds and finished at the Lighthouse, scanning the waters of Apalachee Bay. I found fifteen duck species, about half of which were on Mounds Pool III. There were many hundreds of scaup and Bufflehead offshore, as well as, Common Loons, Horned Grebes and Common Goldeneye.
As I started to drive out of the refuge, it was beginning to rain. I had logged 82 species in a quick five-hour swing. Not bad for a mid-winter morning.
The WHO (Wildlife, Heritage and Outdoors) Festival is on Saturday. There will be food, music and lots of activities. Come down to support your local refuge and have some fun doing it.
Don Morrow, Tallahassee, FL