Bobcat and Bobkitten

I was down at St. Marks NWR this morning.  I had waited for sunrise on the Stony Bayou cross levee, which is a reasonably gator-free area in Summer and one of the reasons I have been going out there. Sunrise had been an eclectic mix of low scudding clouds, patches of pure pale blue morning sky and shafts of colored light that broke through the clouds. There had been lots of bats, a few nighthawks and a single Black Tern working the canal. 

With the sun safely risen, I turned to head back. The cross levee is currently a wide expanse of bare dirt. and I noticed shorebirds all over it. I may have walked past them in the dark on my way out. There were Semipalmated, Spotted, Least and Western Sandpipers, plus a few Semipalmated Plovers. Most flew as I walked toward them, but the Spotted Sandpipers bobbed along in front of me. I collected a flock of nine and was herding them along before they flew as I neared the end of the levee where I turn to get back to my car.

The cross levee continues as a dirt road that eventually intersects with Tram Road. I saw something dark in the grass on the side of the road about thirty yards away. Unlimbering my scope, I saw that it was a Bobcat and a Bobkitten about half the size of its mother. They were watching me warily.

The mother got up and took a few steps into the road, her tail was twitching nervously and she was maintaining eye contact with me. The younger cat stepped forward and began to bat at her tail and tried to bite it. She sat down and wrapped her tail close to her body. The younger cat ran back to the grass, turned around and crouched down. Every time the mother’s tail would start moving, the Bobkitten would run out and pounce on it before running back to the grass and crouching down again. I watched for about ten minutes and then left them in peace.

Stony Bayou has had a lot of rain in the last few days, but there’s still enough mud and grass to attract shorebirds. I added Marbled Godwit, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitcher to my list before I got back to my car.

I spent a few more hours at the refuge. Migration is beginning to pick up. I had thirty-six Blue-winged Teal and a hundred and twenty-six Black Skimmers. A Bald Eagle back for the winter was sitting by the nest down near the Lighthouse.  I ended up with five warbler species; Yellow, Yellow-throated, Common Yellowthroat, Pine and Prairie. It was a pleasant morning of late Summer birding.

The fruiting plants of late Summer; Virginia Creeper, Beautyberry, Grape, Silver Bay and Pepper Vine are putting out a bumper crop. They’ll be joined next month by Cabbage Palm. Noting where these are can help in spotting thrushes, catbirds, orioles and grosbeaks as they begin migrating through in the next two months. Things are about to get very exciting. 

Maybe you should come down to St. Marks.