Cold Front Migrants

Five of us met at the refuge about 0900 in hopes of a push of migrants with the cold front. Six plus hours of moderate birding effort produced very few passerine migrants, but we all enjoyed what I would call a good, baseline St. Marks birding day: species total in the low 60s comprised mostly of the expected, with no rarities, but with a few species or number totals that are not seen on every visit.

We started at the Mounds rest rooms and very soon realized that the birds weren’t here. With the tide still out in the bay, we left Tower Pond for later.

Next stop, Cedar Point Trail. Many Palm Warblers, a few Y-billed Cuckoo, a couple each of Black and White Warbler, Redstart (“Yellowstarts”), and Ruby-crowned Kinglets; a single Chestnut-sided Warbler and an Indigo Bunting seen by another birder. While on the trail, two flocks of 150-200 each of White Pelicans came in quite high over the bay from the west. The first flock, viewed from great distance, had a pink bird soaring synchronously with the pelicans. The last time our group of five was here, the American Flamingo flew by from the same compass heading (but ten feet off the water, not at hundreds of feet altitude). The flock eventually drifted over us and the pink bird turned out to be a Roseate Spoonbill. Still, very cool.

As we returned on the trail, two Bottlenose Dolphins came in very close in the rapidly flooding salt marsh and put on a spectacular tail-slapping display as they savaged some bait fish.

With the tide up, we moved on to Tower Pond, where large numbers of the expected shorebird species were present. Also there were singles of Gull-billed Tern (first year bird), American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Killdeer, and Reddish Egret.

A stop at Headquarters Pond produced a couple of Purple Gallinules; the large snag at the far end of the pond contained many dozens of White Ibis, lesser numbers of other herons and egrets, and we watched a flock of 22 Roseate Spoonbills fly in to join them. Something flushed about 25 Bl-crowned Night Herons.

We left at this point (old dog at home), but two of our party continued to the lighthouse area where they watched multiple, large, migrating flocks of White Pelicans, totaling roughly 2000 birds.

Few passerines, but who cares?