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Fort Clinch
State Park and
Egan's Creek
Wetlands
Birding
Adventure |
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View
Species List
View Trip
Photos |
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Trip Summary
and
Journal Entry |
Eight field trip participants met at
the Great Florida Birding Trail
Gateway station at Ft. Clinch Pier
parking lot. We were all treated to
a male Painted Bunting at the
feeders. The bird, as seen in the
photos below, appeared to be
molting. This was a wonderful life
bird for some of the birders to
begin the trip with. We also had an Eastern
Towhee, Common Ground Doves, Common
Yellowthroat and Northern Cardinal
at the same site. The park has a
rock pond with a water spray set up
and the observation blind gave us
some great bird views. Ned scoped a
kingbird on a power line and we
identified it as Eastern Kingbird.
We also had a brief look at a
Merlin.
Teddy was hot on the trail with
Prairie, Pine, and Palm Warblers.
She spotted a Summer Tanager and
heard a Northern Bobwhite. As we
headed for the pier, Gary found a
resting Empidonax sp. We had
precious time to study the bird and
surmised that it was a
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. It took
all of us tracking the bird and its
field marks and we feel confident
that we all had a life bird for the
day. We had no idea what was yet to
come.
The pier was a nice walk and great
views for some folks who had never
been there before. We didn't see
much in the way of birds, other than
the usual gulls and terns, Ospreys,
Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones. We
also picked up first-of-season Ring
Billed Gull. To our surprise, we
observed several warblers taking off
from the shore, seemingly heading
out to sea - while at the same time
seeing Great Blue Herons seemingly
flying in from the ocean.
We then headed for the little gem of
the park - the Willow Pond Hiking
Trail. This was the birdiest area of
the entire trip - we had Magnolia,
Black-throated Blue, Prairie,
Prothonotary, Northern Parula, and
Blackburnian (imm) warblers; plus
American Redstarts, Ovenbird,
Northern Water thrush, Eastern Wood
Pewee, Summer Tanager, Red-eyed and
white-eyed vireos and what appeared
to be Yellow-billed Cuckoo seen high
in the trees. Feeling the tinges of
'warbler neck', we decided to break
for lunch in the picnic area near
the Fort parking lot.
Egan's Creek was our next stop,
where we started with the resident
marsh waders to include Roseate
Spoonbills, Egrets, Herons and Wood
Storks. We had a challenge with an
immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
We were lucky enough to see a
Red-shouldered Hawk perched at the
top of a tree. A distant falcon
species seemed to be circling and
diving over the tree tops.
Kevin and Teddy found a small group
of House Finches and a Northern
Waterthrush in the same area. We
also scoped Killdeer and Greater
Yellowlegs.
With some energy still in reserve,
we headed for Huguenot Park for our
final run. The beach was crowded and
the tide was high, so our time was
limited. Kevin found the Red Knots
that had been on the target list,
plus some dancing Reddish Egrets. We
also found our Caspian Terns, which
we had not seen earlier that day.
Our trip ended with a little over 80
species and some very tired, but
much satisfied birders. Still the
champs! |
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Trip Notification
and
Itinerary |
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Leader:
Diane Reed &
Kevin Dailey
Date:
Sunday,
September 17, 2006; Rain or shine.
Time:
0800 (field trip begins at 0815!) to
mid-afternoon
Meeting Place:
Ft. Clinch State Park - Fishing Pier Parking lot;
@ the Great Florida Birding Trail
station.
What to Bring:
Plenty of water, lunch,
snacks, sunscreen, insect spray, binoculars,
camera, scope if you have one. Dress
appropriately for the weather
conditions and bring comfortable
walking shoes.
Directions:
Take I–95
to the Fernandina
Beach/Callahan exit
(Milepost Exit 373 - Old
Exit 129), and stay to the
right. You will then be
traveling east on A1A. (This
road becomes 8th Street
within the town limits of
Fernandina) Stay on this
road, (A1A), for 16 miles
until you come to the
intersection of 8th Street
and Atlantic Avenue. Turn
right on Atlantic Avenue and
go about two miles, Fort
Clinch State Park will be on
the left. The park opens at
8:00 A.M.
Admission Fee
- Ft. Clinch SP $5.00
per vehicle; No fee at
Egan's Creek Greenway. Those
who have a valid Florida State Park
individual annual pass are admitted
to Ft. Clinch SP 'free'; additional
persons in the vehicle are $1 per
person.
Our morning will begin shortly after
8:00A.M. at the Great Florida
Birding Trail's gateway station at
the base of the Fishing Pier at Ft.
Clinch State Park (View a
map of the park). We will bird
the parking lot and feeder station
for Painted
Buntings before heading out
to the pier (those arriving a little
late can find the group on the
pier). From the pier, we will scan
the ocean and seawall for shorebirds
and larids, most notably looking for
Purple
Sandpiper. We may likely see
several species of terns, including
Royal, Common, Least, Gull-Billed,
and Black
Terns.
Northern Gannet and other
pelagic species could be observed.
After an hour or so on the pier, we
will drive to the Willow Pond Hiking
Trail; which is located centrally
along the park drive. (Parking is
available at the trail head). Two
loops encircle a series of fresh
water ponds, the shorter loop takes
around 20 minutes, the longer takes
45-50 minutes to complete. We will
look for Painted Buntings &
Summer
Tanagers, as well as early
migrants such as either Waterthrush
species and various wood warblers.
 Following
the hike on Willow Pond Trail, we
will leave Ft. Clinch and head
across the street to Egan's Creek
Greenway. The Greenway is 238 acres of
environmentally sensitive land along Egan's Creek between Atlantic Avenue
and Sadler Road. The main entrance
to the Greenway is behind the
auditorium at the Atlantic Park
Community Center, which is located
at 2500 Atlantic Avenue, almost
directly across from the entrance to
Ft. Clinch SP. Parking here is free
and shaded. We will be concentrating
on the 'Blue
Heron Loop' - a
map of which can
be viewed below.
Although there will be plenty of
walking within the Greenway, it is
recommended that you carry a scope
if you have one - the views of the
wetlands can be quite rewarding. In
addition to various species of
sparrows and warblers, this part of
the trip should produce a variety of
waders, shorebirds, and raptors.
Lingering
Roseate Spoonbills are
possible. We should finish the trip
around 2:00 P.M.
For those interested in
driving back via A1A, we can stop at
Amelia Island State Park or
'Spoonbill Pond' (to scan Nassau
Sound for waders, larids, and
migratory falcons). We can make a final
stop at Huguenot Park; targeting
migrating shorebirds. |
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Typical
sight on Egan's wetlands: Wood
Stork, White Ibis, Roseate
Spoonbill, & several Egret and Heron
species together in one view. |
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Map
of
Egan's Creek Greenway |
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Species List
&
Count
This area contains a listing of the
bird species
seen or heard on the trip. An
asterisk (*) denotes those heard but
not seen. |
1 Caspian Tern
2 Royal Tern
3 Sandwich Tern
4 Common Tern
5 Black Skimmer
6 Laughing Gull
7 Ring-billed Gull
8 Herring Gull
9 Great Black-backed Gull
10 Rock Dove
11 Eurasian Collared-Dove
12 Mourning Dove
13 Common Ground-Dove
14 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
15 Chimney Swift
16 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
17 Belted Kingfisher
18 Red-bellied Woodpecker
19 Downy Woodpecker
20 Northern Flicker
21 Pileated Woodpecker *
22 Eastern Wood Pewee
23 Eastern Kingbird
24 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
25 Osprey
26 Falcon species
27 Merlin
28 Northern Bobwhite * |
29 Brown Pelican
30 Double-crested Cormorant
31 Anhinga
32 Great Blue Heron
33 Great Egret
34 Snowy Egret
35 Little Blue Heron
36 Tricolored Heron
37 Reddish Egret
38 Cattle Egret
39 Green Heron
40 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
41 White Ibis
42 Roseate Spoonbill
43 Wood Stork
44 Black Vulture
45 Turkey Vulture
46 Blue Jay
47 Fish Crow
48 Carolina Wren
49 Northern Mockingbird
50 Brown Thrasher
51 Northern Cardinal
52 Painted Bunting
53 Eastern Towhee
54 House Finch
55 Tree Swallow
56 Barn Swallow |
57 Clapper Rail *
58 Semipalmated Plover
59 Killdeer
60 Greater Yellowlegs
61 Willet
62 Spotted Sandpiper
63 Ruddy Turnstone
64 Red Knot
65 Sanderling
66 White-eyed Vireo
67 Red-eyed Vireo
68 Northern Parula
69 Magnolia Warbler
70 Black-throated Blue Warbler
71 Blackburnian Warbler
72 Pine Warbler
73 Prairie Warbler
74 Palm Warbler
75 Black-and-White Warbler
76 American Redstart
77 Prothonotary Warbler
78 Ovenbird
79 Northern Waterthrush
80 Common Yellowthroat
81 Summer Tanager
82 Boat-tailed Grackle
83 Common Grackle
84 European Starling |
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Trip
Photos |
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View of the
aptly named 'Spoonbill Pond' on A1A
(7:30AM) |
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Sunrise over
Nassau Sound. The peninsula pictured
is Amelia Island State Park on A1A.
(7:30AM) |
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SJAS Members
birding the Ft. Clinch beach access
parking lot (8:30AM)
(Teddy,
Ned, Margaret, Joanie, Arliss
pictured. Not pictured: Diane,
Kevin, & Gary) |
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Bunny (Marsh
Rabbit?) at the Ft. Clinch beach
access parking lot. |
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Molting male
Painted Bunting at the feeder
station. (9:00AM) |
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Molting male
Painted Bunting at the feeder
station. (9:00AM) |
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Common
Ground Dove at Ft. Clinch beach
access parking lot. |
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Eastern
Towhee at Ft. Clinch feeder station. |
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Baby
Alligators on Ft. Clinch Willow Pond
Trail. |
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SJAS
Members scanning a flock of larids
on Ft. Clinch beach.
Arliss,
Gary, Margaret, Joanie, Teddy, Ned,
Diane (L-R). Not pictured: Kevin |
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SJAS
Members scoping an immature
Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Egan's
Creek.
Margaret,
Diane, Joanie, Gary, Teddy, Arliss,
Ned (L-R). Not pictured: Kevin |
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