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New Threshold Set on Fort George
Island Field Trip - Despite Big
Misses!
"On April 28, 2007 a hardy group of
St. Johns Audubon Society birders
met at dawn at Kingsley Plantation
on beautiful, and birdie, Fort
George Island. Our goal was not only
to identify 100 species in one day,
but to raise the bar above the
current record of 109 species,
achieved on
September 30, 2006. The initial
record was set on
May 6, 2006 when we met our
“century run” goal by identifying
103 species (check out both field
trip write ups at this website).
Northeast Florida, as other areas,
has been experiencing extreme
drought conditions; and the weather
on the day before the field trip,
Friday, April 27, 2007 was hot and
smoky (from the fires in Georgia)
with scorching west winds. These
conditions did not exactly foster
images of migrants dropping from the
sky at dawn! And in fact that Friday
had been virtually birdless. There
was a bit of hope, however, as a few
migrant warblers were seen in the
late afternoon.
One nice thing about this field trip
is the opportunity to roam the
plantation grounds at the first glow
of light. The early birder field
trip started at 6:30 a.m. and the
early early birder field trip
started at six! I had one early
early birder, Kevin Dailey. We stood
out on the dock and enjoyed a
spectacular dawn. We didn’t hear any
migrants coming in, but were
entertained by night herons flying
back to their roosts. By 6:20 Diane
Reed and other early birders started
rolling in. It was getting light and
the chucks had already gone silent.
The field trip was scheduled to
officially start at 7:15, but by
6:50 many of us were gathered out in
front of the plantation house. There
were birds! It was a wonderful
surprise – birds! Did I say there
were birds? I guess there is one
thing I have learned about bird
migration, and that is I don’t know
anything! We stood stationary for an
hour enjoying great looks at Cape
May, Blackpoll, and Black-and-white
Warblers, Eastern Kingbirds, Indigo
Bunting, and a Scarlet Tanager.
Flocks of Bobolinks followed one
after another overhead. A lone loon
flew over. It was a great start to
the day and we hadn’t ventured 10
feet! I actually felt there was a
chance to break last September’s
record. The sun was only just barely
above Little Talbot Island.
We ventured out to the slave
quarters where there are a group of
oaks, with bare tops, that have been
good the last few springs. The bird
activity has been a bit slow this
year in the ancient oaks, but they
are never to be overlooked. Everyone
got better looks at Blackpoll
Warblers and we were dazzled by a
male Cape May Warbler feeding in a
cluster of Cross Vine blossoms!
American Redstarts and
Yellow-throated and Black-throated
Blue Warblers kept us occupied, but
the show stopper was a male
Blue-winged Warbler. The old oaks
came through after all!
We left the Kingsley grounds and
checked out some nearby areas. We
were rewarded with good looks at the
exquisite Painted Bunting, more
Indigo Buntings, Summer Tanager,
Gray Catbird, Red-eyed Vireo, and
Northern Parula.
As we walked back along the drive
into Kingsley Plantation a few in
the group were able to lock on to
the often hard to see Yellow-billed
Cuckoo. We scoped over the Fort
George River as Gull-billed Terns
noisily cruised back and forth.
After padding the list with many of
the typical water birds we headed
along a path to the Kingsley dock. A
few of us in the front of the line
were able to see a skulking
Ovenbird. It was quite a struggle to
point it out as it quietly walked in
heavy under story. I wondered how in
the world I would ever show it to
more than just a few folks. Suddenly
the Ovenbird started walking towards
the path, walked out on to the path,
and stayed on the path giving
everyone an awesome look at this
unique warbler. It apparently was
starved for attention as it sashayed
about - its tail straight up! We
watched for a good long time. It
reluctantly flittered off as we
finally pushed on.
It was about 10:30 and we drove over
to the Ribault Club. It wasn’t a
bird, but a turtle that stole the
show. This wasn’t just any ordinary
turtle, but a magnificent Loggerhead
Sea Turtle! It was swimming along
the edge of a quiet cove
occasionally lifting its massive
orange head out of the water for all
to see. This was a rare experience
to see this animal away from the
ocean. We finally got refocused on
birds and scanned the sand flats. I
was surprised to see, amongst the
Semipalmated Plovers, a small flock
of Piping Plovers. They were
splendid in their breeding plumage.
American Oystercatchers and a nifty
Spotted Sandpiper rounded out the
many water birds added at this stop.
As we walked back to our vehicles
both Painted Buntings and House
Finches were singing on the club
grounds, testing our ears. It was
late morning and the forest birds
were getting harder to find. It was
time to head over to the Fort George
River Inlet – a key to any big day
list in Duval County. Before we left
we took the time to scan over
several birds of prey migrating
overhead. It is interesting that all
6 Northern Harriers were adult
males. Most adult male harriers
spend their winter well south of
Duval County, so maybe a few of
those “southern” boys were just now
getting to north Florida.
The best laid plans of birds and
birders… Our next stop was the
City’s Alimacani boat ramp. This is
not only a good birding spot, but a
good place to eat lunch and tally up
the mid-day checklist. After
Alimacani it would be off to
Huguenot Memorial Park to bird the
expansive mud flats and add
significantly to our list. It soon
became very apparent that we would
NOT be going into Huguenot. There
were countless cars lined up to get
into the park; and worse they were
backed way out onto Heckscher,
making it too difficult to attempt
entry.
As we ate lunch we added up our list
and were shocked that we were
ALREADY above 100 species, 101 to be
exact. That was a relief as Huguenot
was out the question. We did,
however, walk over to the edge of
the Fort George Inlet, where we
could scope the Huguenot mud flats
from afar. It wasn’t the same thing
as being there and we missed some
common species, but we added several
just the same including Red Knot,
Sandwich Tern, and Great
Black-backed Gull. A state park
police officer gave us a good tip on
a nearby borrow pit. He had seen
both Canada Geese and Blue-winged
Teal there. We drove by the pond and
sure enough, there they were!
It was nearly 2:00 p.m. but the word
quit was not in this group’s
vocabulary. We decided to check the
old M&M Dairy. It is now an
industrial park and soon-to-be
housing development, but alas, there
is still a tiny remnant of the old
fields and ponds. There was still
one pond that supported habitat for
a few shorebirds. We were happy to
find Black-necked Stilts, Solitary
and Least Sandpipers, Lesser
Yellowlegs, and best of all a
stunning, breeding plumaged,
Long-billed Dowitcher. With field
guides in hand we leveled our scopes
at this handsome fellow, who might
be difficult to identify in winter,
but is a snap in all his breeding
finery. There were still cattle
egrets in the fields and a far off
American Crow cawed. The last new
bird of the day was a Red-tailed
Hawk. He sailed over the dozen or so
dump trucks and earth movers and
disappeared over the horizon. It was
hard not to think back on how things
used to be at the dairy; and I
imagined one of the streets being
called something like Bobolink
Drive.
We gathered in the shade of a giant
warehouse and compiled the list. One
hundred twenty-one – smashing the
old record! That would be an
outstanding total anytime, but more
so when considering that we stopped
birding at 3:00 p.m. and only drove
19.5 miles!
Hmmm 121 - that is going to be one
tough act to follow – heck no, not
this group. They’ll be itchen to go
for it. I’m thinking 130 is the next
barrier to break. We’ll give it a
good run this fall – stay tuned!
121 is good, but here are just a few
of the big misses – Green Heron,
Ruddy Turnstone, Caspian Tern,
Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo,
and House Sparrow." -
Roger Clark, May 3, 2007
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Leader:
Roger Clark
Date:
April 28, 2007
Time:
0715 (I’ll be there at 0630 for the
early birds)
Meeting Place:
Kingsley Plantation Parking lot
What to Bring:
Lots of water, lunch,
snacks, insect spray, binoculars,
scope if you have one
Directions:
From SR9A go north on SR105 (Heckscher
Drive). Proceed past the St. Johns
River Ferry Landing 1/2 mile (look
for the brown Kingsley Plantation
signs). Turn left onto a small paved
road (Fort George Road). Follow the
signs to Kingsley Plantation. Note:
once on Fort George Road if you miss
the sign for Kingsley (left down a
dirt road) just keep going as the
road makes a big circle and you’ll
find us!
Itinerary:
Late April is still close to
the peak of the spring migration and
is a great time to observe a wide
variety of Neotropical species.
Painted Buntings have just arrived
and are easy to see as the stunning
males are busy setting up their
territories. Summer Tanagers,
Red-eyed Vireos, and Yellow-throated
Warblers are just a few of the other
colorful nesting species we expect
to see. Migrants will be moving
through and we will be looking for
Black-throated Blue Warblers,
American Redstarts, Ovenbirds,
Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Orioles,
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and many
more.
We will start with the beautiful and
historic backdrop of Kingsley
Plantation. We will catch the early
morning activity in the big trees on
the plantation grounds while keeping
a close eye on the always
interesting water birds along the
Fort George River. We will finish
our morning of birding at the
Ribault Club, where we will look for
more migrants and might get lucky
with a Reddish Egret and Whimbrels.
After working up an appetite we will
have lunch at the nearby Alimacani
boat ramp, where there are shaded
picnic tables. This will also be a
good place to see a wide range of
water birds, including Black
Skimmer, Royal Tern, Black-bellied
Plover, and hopefully Red Knots. In
the past we have had Bald Eagle,
Peregrine Falcon, and Merlin right
from this spot.
The last scheduled birding area will
be Huguenot Memorial Park. There
will seem to be as many people here
as birds, but a visit here is very
rewarding as it is one of the best
places in north Florida to find rare
or unusual water birds. Lesser
Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed Tern,
Long-billed Curlew and Marbled
Godwit lead the long list of birds
we will be searching for.
Those who stay for the whole field
trip can expect to see very close to
100 species. For more information
please contact Roger Clark at (904)
251-3537 (during the day).
See you on the
28th.
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