Fall at SMNWR

I went down for some Fall migration birding at St. Marks NWR, yesterday. I parked at the Lighthouse and walked Eastward down the beach to Sand Cove in the dark. I often find a Yellow-crowned Night Heron standing on that stretch of beach waiting for Fiddler Crabs to walk up. It’s sort of like UberEats; you stay where you are and the food comes to you. When I got to the edge of Sand Cove I waited until it got light enough to see and then started walking back checking for warblers in the Wolfberry, Red Cedar and Cabbage Palms that grow on the narrow berm separating the beach from the salt marsh.. 

Yellow Warblers were abundant in the Wolfberry thickets. They seemed to be ignoring the red fruits in favor of insects. There were a few Palm Warblers and a Common Yellowthroat. Just before I got back to the Lighthouse, I found an American Redstart in a Live Oak.

Birding was light, but steady. Before I left the refuge, I had added Magnolia, Tennessee, Pine and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Wood Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, some Indigo Buntings and a Pectoral Sandpiper. There were many Gray Catbirds about.

To me, Fall birding is not just about birds. It’s about being outside and enjoying Fall.

Traditionally there are four seasons; Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, during each of which specific things are supposed to occur. This is what we know from literature, song and poetry, much of it derived from New England writers. Our elementary school teachers taught this to us and made us cut up construction paper to make colored leaves every Fall and snowmen every winter. If you lived along the Gulf Coast and questioned this, you were told that we don’t have seasons in the South.

This is not true.

We have seasons, but our seasons don’t have the same markers that New England seasons have. Our temperatures begin to drop and a frontal passage may give us a high temperature of 75° one day, but a few days later 75° will be the day’s low temperature. Our leaves don’t all change color in a short period, but Virginia Creeper, Poison Ivy, Red Maple and Grape provide reliable splashes of color in our woods. Cypresses begin to take on a rusty umber color and Black Cherries begin to turn golden orange.

We get additional Fall color from wildflowers like Blazing Star, Purple False Foxglove, Goldenrod and Sneezeweed.  Attracted to the flowers are migrating butterflies; Cloudless Sulphurs, Monarchs and Gulf Fritillaries, which provide even more color. It’s not a New England Fall, but it’s plenty colorful. There is nothing muted or subtle about our Southern Fall. 

All of this is a backdrop for birding at the refuge in October. Come down and enjoy Fall at St. Marks. You don’t have to bring scissors and colored construction paper to do so and this year our Fall colors include a pink flamingo.