Honorable Mention

June is not the buggiest month or the muggiest month at St. Marks NWR, but it gets honorable mention in both categories.  June is also the low point of the year for bird diversity and numbers. Winter ducks and most of the shorebirds are long gone. However, if you are willing to step outside and immerse yourself in the early Summer heat there is still plenty to experience.

I started the morning on the North levee of Stony Bayou II. The frog chorus from the marshes was deafening. Pig Frogs, Leopard Frogs and Green Tree Frogs drowned out any hope of hearing birds. The sky was mostly clear and there was a fat half moon riding high above me. As I was scanning the horizon for nighthawks, I saw a shining spot just above the Eastern horizon.. I ran back to my car, pulled out my scope and found that I was looking at a thin crescent Venus. It was a good omen for the day.

I was out to do my early June shorebird survey. Migrant shorebirds typically pass through by mid-June and I was expecting low numbers of mostly local breeders and oversummering yearling shorebirds. A few species like Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover don’t migrate in their first year. It’s easy to pick them out. They retain their winter plumage. My numbers today were what I expected. A ninety percent drop in shorebird numbers over the last month. The only migrant shorebirds that I found among the 173 shorebirds that I counted were eight Semipalmated Sandpipers and a Dunlin, all in breeding plumage.

Cristóbal’s rains flooded the marshes and interior ponds at St. Marks. Our nesting Wilson’s Plovers had already fledged their young and weren’t affected. A hatchling Wilson’s Plover can start walking within two hours and these plovers had no trouble moving upslope. Most of the nesting Least Terns were on higher ground and seem to have done well. However, I only know of one Black-necked Stilt nest that wasn’t flooded this season.. A pair on Lighthouse Pool fledged early. Three of their four chicks survived Cristóbal.

A few other notable things. The tern show at St. Marks continues. I had Least, Black, Gull-billed and Caspian Terns on Stony Bayou I and Royal, Forster’s and Sandwich Terns on the Lighthouse Flats along with a few Black Skimmers. The American Flamingo has moved to Stony Bayou I and is easily visible from Lighthouse Road. You don’t even have to get out of your car to see it. Lastly, as I was scanning the salt flats for shorebirds, I saw a small herd of four otters galloping along. They have an ungainly gait that makes them seem as though they are part slinky. If you keep looking, there’s always something new to see.

It was hot and a little buggy, but it’s June. If you are willing to endure a little sweat and a few bug bites you can come down to the refuge and experience the recurring miracle of a June day at St. Marks.