St. Marks on a cold windy day.

                                                         December 28, 2012

    A nice aspect of living in Tallahassee is the close proximity of the beautiful St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. St. Marks lies along the coast from the Aucilla River west to the Ochlockonee River, over thirty miles of coastal marsh and inland habitats. The road to the historic lighthouse winds between freshwater and brackish ponds on both sides which are managed for overwintering waterfowl and thus it’s common to see clusters of birders gathered in the cooler months spotting for shorebirds and ducks, hoping to see something special, a bird species out of it’s normal range especially.
   This winter the buzz is all about Razorbills and Scoters. These are two species our family saw on a trip to Novia Scotia two years ago on an outing to see Puffins. These are high latitude ocean going birds that nest in rock outcroppings and resemble penguins, except for the flight ready wings. What explains their presence in Florida? Food resource patterns, Hurricane Sandy? Who knows.
   On arrival it pays to check the wildlife viewing log located at the visitor center looking for entires by Don Morrow and Jim Cox specifically, two accomplished area birders that visit the refuge often, and there by Don’s name the two birds were listed. Rick, Mom and I stopped by the Mounds pool and were treated to the site of hundreds of Redheads (ducks) and Lesser Scaups. A few folk were banging away with enormous telephoto lenses aimed mostly at the Gators nearby on the bank, but one family with a son around the age of eight or nine was watching the reeds close by with binocs and an open birding book.

Sora

   I was watching them too while flipping through our bird book trying to identify a smallish shorebird with long legs and a short raised tail which it flicked from time to time. “It’s a Sora!” The boy cried, so I searched the guide and there it was. Here was a birding prodigy in the making. I watched the boy move up and down the lake side book in hand with great enthusiasm calling out species while the parents quietly took photos with a small pocket camera. Another bird we couldn’t decide on he helped us with as well, an American Bittern. These are two species while perhaps unremarkable in other parts of the country are notable to see here.  Both birds we would have miss attributed had it not been for that boy. I wonder if they brought him to St. Marks as a treat, being from Cairo Ga., which is about two hours form the coast considering traffic. Finally whatever order governs large groups of ducks must have asserted itself because at some point the multitude gathered and formed a T with the foot setting off towards the far bank in a perfect line while those at the top waited in the queue!

    The razor bills turned out to be a miss. People were meandering around and I could hear folks asking after them but the consensus seemed to be they’d moved off. Still, the Lighthouse Pool was stuffed with waterfowl, mostly American Coot, but mixed in there were Buffleheads and an American Widgeon. Good fun page turning in a field guide for folks who only get to see these winter vacationers once or twice a year.