Perfect Time of Day

On Wednesday, just after 6:00 am, I pulled off Lighthouse Road and parked at the Double Dikes, carefully avoiding a seven-foot gator that was crossing the road. A partial lunar eclipse had taken a big bite out of the full moon, but light from the advancing dawn made it easy to see. Red-winged Blackbirds were calling from the marshes to the North and I could hear Least Bitterns and the harsh cahrr of Fish Crows out to start a day of nest robbing.

With my scope balanced on my shoulder, I walked along the North shore of Stony Bayou, stopping about halfway out to check on the sky. What was left of the moon had turned a golden amber as it began to disappear into the invisible blue gray murk on the Western horizon. I turned to the East where a glorious skyscape was unfolding. Low clouds in scattered streaks, bumps and swirls were turning pink, orange and purple against the pale blue of the morning sky. All of this was reflected on the surface of the canal between the two dikes and three Roseate Spoonbills were flying past. This is the best time of the day. My idea of perfection would be to freeze the world fifteen minutes before sunrise.

A Black Rail began calling from somewhere in the low grasses along Stony Bayou’s edge only yards away from me.  It kept calling, on and off, for about five minutes, but I was never able to find it. I scoped the mudflats and shallow water and found scattered shorebirds; a few Black-bellied & Semipalmated Plovers, but mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers. 

I walked back to Lighthouse Road and down to the East River Pool. Water levels there are continuing to drop. That’s where most of the waders on the refuge are feeding and seems to have most of the shorebirds. I added Greater Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilt, Willet and Short-billed Dowitcher. The waders included White Ibis, Great Blue, Little Blue, & Tricolored Herons, as well as, Great and Snowy Egrets. Scanning the far end of the pool with my scope I found a dozen Black Skimmers, twenty White Pelicans and the American Flamingo. Later in the day, the pelicans and flamingo would be gone, replaced by five Roseate Spoonbills.

I drove down to the Lighthouse. Male Seaside Sparrows were sitting up in the salt marshes singing and Whimbrels were using their long, curved bills to hunt for Fiddler Crabs on the salt flats. On my way back, a small bird flew across the road near Picnic Pond and I pulled over to check it out. It was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, I watched as it went to a lichen-encrusted nest attached to an oak branch. Two beady-eyed, wobbly heads erupted; bright yellow beaks open. I watched for about ten minutes as the parents made repeated trips to the nest. Each time they approached, the heads of the two nestlings would pop up to be fed, disappearing back into the cup-shaped nest as their parent left.

I stopped on the side of Lighthouse Road on the far edge of Headquarters Pond to scope for Purple Gallinules. As I got out of my car, I saw a Green Heron sitting on a wax myrtle branch hanging over the water. It didn’t fly off the way they usually do. Looking more closely I saw that it was an immature bird, old enough to leave the nest, but still flightless. It jumped down to a branch and joined two of its siblings. An adult bird flew in quickly with food and just as quickly flew off.

These 17-inch tall, short-legged herons are mostly Summer residents at the refuge, although a few always overwinter. They are one of the few tool-using birds and have been observed dropping bait, insects or bits of wood, into the water to attract fish.

I made two more stops at the refuge. A second stop at East River Pool and a stop at the Double Bridges. I found Northern Parula and Yellow-throated Warbler and could hear Tufted Titmice, Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Great Crested Flycatchers calling from the surrounding hammock. The Prothonotary Warblers that were in the two nest boxes have fledged their young and are off wandering.  By then, it was late morning and the heat of the day was beginning to settle in. I decided to head home.

Get up early tomorrow and head down to St. Marks. A lot will happen at the refuge before Fall migrants begin to return. The front gate is on a timer and opens at 6:00 am. You’ll have an opportunity to experience the world at the perfect time of the day.