Biking for Birds Recap

Sunday April 20th, 2008 marked my Biking for Birds Big Day Challenge at Saint Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge (St. Marks Unit).  Saint Mark’s is a critically important migratory bird refuge located along the Big Bend of Florida’s Gulf Coast.  My aim was to successfully identify as many bird species within a twenty four hour period without using fossil fuels.  The ultimate goal, however, was to raise awareness about bird migration and to raise funds for bird conservation.  The day began predawn under the light of a full moon with the hopes of hearing an owl or two.  As first light progressed I was greeted by a resounding songbird chorus complete with many recently arrived neo-tropical migrants such as Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, and Summer Tanager.  This dawn's chorus included over thirty bird species!  With a chill in the air, I began birding my way along the primitive hiking trails (dikes 105 and 106) and then around Stoney Bayou (Pool 2) in hopes of "picking up" some freshwater marsh birds.  At the juncture of dikes 106 and 127 I had excellent looks at Least Bittern, Sora, and Purple Gallinule while a skulking King Rail vocalized.  Also along dike 127 was a singing male Yellow-Breasted Chat whose golden breast was aflame in the morning light.  A stalwart adult Bald Eagle perched high in a pine snag kept a watchful eye as a peddled around the marsh.  Birding along County Road 59 (Lighthouse Road) offered a mixed bag of St. Mark’s standards, but sorely lacking were local breeders such as Anhinga and Pied-billed Grebe.  The coastal live oak hammock along the Mounds Interpretive Trail was very quiet, but I did see some nice songbirds.  Most notable was a St. Marks Trans-Gulf rarity likely blown in via the day’s strong westerly winds.  A stunning male Golden-winged Warbler!  This beautiful warbler is declining throughout its range due largely to loss of breeding habitat, cowbird parasitism, and hybridization with the more common Blue-winged Warbler.  It is truly incredible that a songbird, such as the tiny golden-winged, attempt such a huge flight of faith across the Gulf of Mexico (Read more about this warbler at:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Golden-winged_Warbler.html).

Tower Pond offered up nice looks at Gull-billed Tern and many shorebirds such as Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Semipalmated Plover.  Picnic Pond, always good for something, produced a hunting Merlin as well as a lone Woodstork.  Lighthouse Pond, however, was teaming with shorebirds including an incredible female Wilson's Phalarope (another rarity for the refuge), American Oystercatcher, American Avocet, and several Whimbril (but sadly no Red Knots or Marbled Godwits, both species in decline).  As horseshoe crab populations continue to decline in New Jersey’s Delaware Bay, the plight of the Red Knot lies solely in the hands of humankind.  Fortunately the State of New Jersey recently enacted additional protections for this shorebird.  “The decline in New Jersey’s horseshoe crab population has left the Red Knot perched on the edge of extinction.  We simply cannot allow an entire species to be wiped out when the ability to halt the Red Knot’s decline is within our reach,” said Assemblyman McKeon [(D-West Orange, NJ) Read more about the long distance marathon migration of Red Knots at: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/redknot.htm].  Also present in Lighthouse Pond were a few lingering waterfowl including Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, and Lesser Scaup.  I then back tracked along County Road 59 towards East River Pool and dike 104 with high hopes of picking up a reported Gray Kingbird (and possibly my straggling Anhinga and grebe), but no dice on all three species.  I did however find a Hermit Thrush and Prothonotary Warbler along dike 102.  In the future, this trail should offer some nice birding opportunities for the more intrepid birder, but bring your head-net!  I wound out the day cycling into twilight along dike 105 all the way to its juncture with dike 123.  Along the way I picked up a Hooded Warbler (my last diurnal species for the day) and shortly thereafter Barred Owl, Common Nighthawk, and Chuck-will’s-widow.  The day came to its end along the edge of Plum Orchard Pond.  As light faded into darkness, lightening bugs flickered with romantic intentions over the marsh and a deafening chorus of green treefrogs erupted from the reeds.  An awakened barred owl heralded the night with promises of a productive rodent hunt.  Activity around the pond was momentarily quieted.

In all, it was an excellent day and I will most certainly try it again.  The final tally was 113 avian species successfully identified with 16 shorebirds and 11 warblers!  With the right weather conditions this could easily be surpassed.  As with any birding big day, there were common birds inexplicably absent while other excellent and most unexpected species made an appearance.  The least common denominator in a cycling big day is largely ones inability to revisit sites.  As a result I emphasized as much habitat diversity as possible and in so doing visited many under birded sites on the refuge.  This of course required peddling and or walking tens of miles (see map at:  http://www.fws.gov/saintmarks/maps.html).  Certainly a day to remember and replicate, because I have now established a personal benchmark that I hope to surpass... 113 birds and over $600 dollars raised for bird conservation!  It's still not too late to sponsor my efforts simply by visiting the Gulf Coast Bird Observatories website at http://www.gcbo.org/ and make a contribution to their land conservation efforts along the Gulf Coast.  Any dollar amount would be most appreciated!  And for those of you who already contributed, I would like to express my sincerest thanks… let’s do it again next year!        

 

Good Migrations,

C.K. Borg

April 29, 2008