Snow Goose

Lynn and I visited St. Marks NWR late this afternoon arriving a little after 4 pm with the intent to check for the Curlew Sandpiper reported on the flats off of the Cedar Point Trail. With an incoming tide 2/3rds to high, most of the flats were flooded. Shorebirds of any species were not observed from the flats adjacent to the Cedar Point Trail or on the flats on the east side of Lighthouse Road.

Another birder we passed on the trail advised that he viewed the flamingo on a small oyster bar off of the tip of the Cedar Point trail. When we reached the tip around 4:40pm, the flamingo was indeed standing adjacent to a small oyster bar occupied by 10+ brown pelicans and an estimated 50 + cormorants. The bar is located approximately 1,100 feet west-southwest (offshore) of the tip of the trail. As we approached Mounds Pool #1 around 6pm, we slowed to see if the flamingo had returned to the pool to roost. The flamingo was not present in visible areas of Mounds Pool #1. Had the flamingo changed its venue?

A large white bird caught our eye in the northern area of Mounds Pool #1. The bird was approximately 200 to 300 feet north of the short peninsula with the bench and pergola and approximately 200 feet east of Lighthouse Road. In the fading light we could discern a white adult snow goose feeding in the emergent vegetation and were able to obtain a few grainy photographs.