New Fall Record Established Despite Harsh Conditions
St. Johns Audubon Society Field Trip to Fort George Island – Duval County, Florida

On September 29, 2007 the St. Johns Audubon Society field trip to Fort George Island and surrounding area faced harsh conditions. A fierce Red Tide was not loosening its grip on the areas adjacent to the shore, and everyone was affected by the airborne toxins and many thousands of dead fish lining the river banks and beaches. On top of the foul air a strong high pressure system and east winds were driving the migrants further west and around us. It was a tough day! Tough for anybody perhaps but St. Johns that is!

It was another beautiful dawn on the banks of the Fort George River and well over 30 birders were there to greet the sun as it rose over Little Talbot Island directly to the east. There was a lot of activity as scores of waders and shorebirds flew back and forth out over the marshes. The spoonbills were lit up in the early morning sun. We were entertained but, at the same time, waited with anticipation for the warbler fallout - one that wasn’t to come. There was, however, a decent migration of swallows and many had good looks at both northern rough-winged and bank. An eastern kingbird made an appearance as did a couple of indigo buntings – both brown jobs. A fast flying Merlin stole the show.

It’s hard to believe, but despite the dead fish it was still nice standing on the river bank and watching all the activity. Before long, however, and one by one, folks started rubbing their eyes and exhibiting other Red Tide symptoms, including the all too familiar signature dry cough. More of an aggravation than anything at this point we moved away from the water and into the woods.

There just wasn’t much activity or at least not as much as we have become accustomed to at the end of September. There were a lot of keen eyes and ears on the lookout and we slowly added some cool birds to our list including, Swainson’s thrush and bay-breasted warbler. By far and away the highlights of the morning were an all too brief look at a beautiful Kentucky warbler walking up a tree limb (not seen by all) and knee-buckling looks at a very cooperative hooded warbler sashaying to and fro on the ground. A scarlet tanager, red-eyed vireos, and blue-gray gnatcatchers helped round out our growing list.

We moved on to the nearby Historic Ribault Club. The old golf course and nearby marshes are always good for a few migrants, but today the old club had a better purpose. Folks were still wheezing and rubbing their eyes so this was an opportunity to go inside the club’s visitor center and get a respite from the tide. We birded down a couple of trails adding willow flycatcher and more palm warblers. Everyone was hanging in there tough and the field trip moved over to the Fort George Inlet, where there would be full exposure to the ill-effects of the Red Tide.

Lunch was an adventure at the Alimacani boat ramp, but hey, we are birders so what is a toxic plume and zillions of rotting fish to us?! We scoped out the sand bars and were doing a good job at sorting out most of the terns, gulls, and shorebirds. It was noon and time to head over to Huguenot Memorial Park and the promise of a rare bird or two. However, it was obvious that most of my intrepid band of birders had experienced enough of the X-Treme Birding conditions and decided to call it a day. Was the field trip over? Heck no!

Several of us headed over to Huguenot and birded on. It actually was kind of nice to go birding there during the Red Tide because there weren’t many people, which meant hardly any (notice I said hardly) marauding dogs and mud-slinging trucks rampaging through birds and birders alike.

It was fun to study the shorebirds close up, but we never did find a rarity to make the others jealous! The few of us who spent some time at Huguenot paid the price by being out in the “bad” air. The coolest thing over there was a pectoral sandpiper, out of place at the beach, and hunkered down with a bunch of western sandpipers. The record of 109 species sure seemed unreachable as we “only” had around 94 species after birding Huguenot. Call it a day? Heck no!

Determined to at least reach 100 species (which I have never failed to do with St. Johns), a field trip of one, comprised of myself, took the field trip inland and to the old farm fields along New Berlin and Cedar Point Road. I was not going down without a fight! Getting away from the coast was nice and soon I started to feel normal again. It was now around 4:00 p.m. Each stop added several new species for the day. Goodies such as Canada goose, eastern bluebird, loggerhead shrike, cattle egret, pied-billed grebe, anhinga, American crow, house wren, eastern towhee, white ibis, and common grackle put us over 100 species and only four away from a new record of 110 species!

On the way home a stop at Wendy’s produced both house sparrow and brown-headed cowbird – hey I am not proud! Now only two away from the record I returned to Fort George and more woodland birding. I finally found a black-and-white-warbler, which had been inexplicably elusive all day. Tied! At 7:20 p.m. an Eastern screech-owl responded to my imitation of its call. Fittingly it was near the spot where many of us had tried in vain to get one to respond twelve and a half hours earlier! It was strange that it hadn’t responded in the darkness, but rather called like a champ in broad daylight. It was number 110 and a hard fought new record! It was definitely time to go home. Next year the conditions will be better and we’ll all go out and set the bar even higher – see you then.

Roger Clark
Field Trip Leader
 

Leader: Roger Clark
Date: September 29, 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: Take your best way to Heckscher Drive (SR105) and drive north towards the ocean. Stay on Heckscher to ½ mile north of the St. Johns River Ferry Landing. Look for the brown Kingsley Plantation signs and turn left onto Fort George Road (narrow black top). Follow the signs to the Kingsley Plantation parking lot (end of 2 mile long dirt road).

Itinerary: Late September is the peak of the fall migration and is a great time to see the widest variety of migrants in northeast Florida. If the weather cooperates (bird weather that is!) for our field trip we can expect to see many species of warblers. Up to 24 species have been found in one morning around Kingsley – so brush up on the confusing fall warblers!  Just a few of the warblers we will be looking for include Black-throated Blue, Chestnut sided, American Redstart, Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, Worm-eating, and Ovenbird. Other migrants will be passing through like Willow Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Swainson’s thrush, and many more.  

The field trip starts early, but sunrise is at 7:18 and you’ll love both the birding and the view as dawn breaks over the Fort George River and the plantation. You can start earlier! I will have an early birder’s special. Starting time is at 6:30 for owls, other nocturnal birds and migrants. It is a really nice time to bird at Kingsley and I welcome you to come join in.  

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 keen eye for the water birds along the Fort George River. A short walk outside the Kingsley gate should produce many migrants. We will finish our morning of birding on Fort George Island at the Ribault Club, a very good place for migrants and water birds. 

After working up an appetite we will have lunch at the nearby Alimacani boat ramp, where there are shaded picnic tables. This is an excellent site to observe a great variety of gulls, terns, shorebirds, and hawks. In the past we have had Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and Merlin. 

Some folks might have to leave the field trip at this point, but we are only now getting warmed up! For those who can continue on we will cross the inlet and venture over to 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. Reddish Egret, Long-billed Curlew, and Marbled Godwit lead the long list of birds we will be searching for. Huguenot is one of the best places in Florida to find Lesser Black-backed Gulls with up to 80 birds being seen at one time! Low tide will be at 10:34 A.M. so we will be there on the falling tide, which is best for birding. 

After Huguenot we will travel to the Mecklenburg Farms in western Duval County and the last point of our birding triangle. The fields, ponds, wetlands, and surrounding woods will boost our day’s list. Some of the birds we will be looking for here include Eastern Meadowlark, Cliff Swallow, Indigo Bunting, Sedge Wren, and Bobolink. In the last three field trips to this area we have seen 153 species and have averaged 111 species per field trip! See you on the 29th. 

For more information please contact Roger Clark at (904) 251-3537 (during the day).

This area contains a listing of the species seen or heard on the trip.