Least Tern Colony News

Look what I found the first thing on my survey of Saturday morning July 23. 

This chick took me by surprise.

I thought that we would be through with the Least Tern project by July 19^th, but these birds won’t quit. They have found a near perfect nesting area and they are going for with all the gusto they can muster. Last week, there were a little over 80 birds still in the two enclosures. 

Adult Least Tern is flying by as a Least Tern chick sits in the shade of a Russian thistle.

The Wilson's Plovers appeared to be finished.  Boy! was I wrong.

Isn't this Wilson's Plover just cute?

Granted there were fewer terns this week. I counted around 50 terns inside the enclosure.  There were more chicks than last week.  I watched as one Least Tern worked on a scrape.

To top that one Wilson’s Plovers was sitting tight on a nest. 

Live and learn. 

Shorebird Survey September 9

On Wednesday, September 9, Breanna Ondich, Meghan Davis and I headed out to do Jekyll Island International Shorebird Survey. We choose to do this four main beach survey in the evening.

Before I go on about the survey, I want to introduce Breanna.  She is Jekyll Island's new Park Ranger. The job is three jobs in one title. She will be doing in beach patrols, helping with the wildlife research, and developing environmental educational programs.



Back to our survey. Here is the form that we used.

                                                                                                                                                             

















Least Sandpipers and lots of Sanderlings were our shorebirds.


There were lots of waterbirds.

  We finished as the sun was setting.

This is perfect way to end the day.

January 31 sunset

Every time I cross the Jekyll Island bridge going home, I just want to stop at the top and look out over the beautiful marsh. January 31, it was so beautiful I did stop. Here is the sunset reason why.

Intense birding Day 1

The past two days I have been intensely birding. My goal was to count birds. Sorry, there was not a lot of time to take pictures.

Birds are important to all us because they are indicator species. They tell us how our planet is doing. No birds around, we are in big trouble. But how do we know when to push the panic button? These bird surveys give us a base line to see if we are doing OK.

On Sunday, I was helping with a winter bird count on the Federal Law Enforcement Center. We had a great day for counting. It was a cold but the birds were active. Here are a few highlights. A Sharp-shinned Hawk started our count. It flew out of the trees in front of us. Sharp-shinned Hawks are small agile birds of prey. They hunt small forest birds. Hawks are equalizer. We counted several species of warblers, the jewels of the bird world. They eat bugs that bug us. We kept going until well after 3 p.m. We finished the count day with an immature Red-shoulder Hawk.

After that count, I raced home. I was invited to a party with some of the birders gathering for the next day's count. But before I could get out the door I got a bird alert phone call. Two Western Grebes were seen off Sea Island. Birders had them in the scopes. OK, I can chase that sighting. Chasing a bird is natural adrenaline rush. You get there and there are other birders there. When new birder come in questions are fired off. "Do you have the bird?" "Where is it?"

Yes I asked the questions. Yes, the two birds were out there. They were way out there on the ocean. Bob Sargent was kind enough to let me look through his scope. I saw the birds but all I saw was a very white cheek, a very black above the white cheek as the birds bobbed in and out of sight. I did see a very long white neck and a very black back. Better view desired, please. But not this evening. The light was fading.

The birders all got to Bill's place to share a little chit-chat. It was a perfect cap to a beautiful day. Thanks Bill for thinking of me. Stay tuned to part 2.

Jonathan's project update

Remember Jonathan’s project, well here is a good beginning. It is out of the way down a path. It will be a good outdoor classroom for the Jekyll Island 4-h center. This center has sessions for schools from all over the states. The kids learn about the Georgia coast first hand. They are in the mud. They are on the beach. They see fresh water and salt water. They will learn at this outdoor classroom while birds fly in and out of the feeders. Maybe it will spark some of these kids get out side in their own hometown. Maybe they will recognize a bird and spark a life time connection to the out-of-doors. Way to go Jonathan and the Jekyll Island 4-h center!

Hidden Lake on St. Simons Island

Silver Lake is right smack in the middle of St. Simons Island. It is down a quiet lane off Frederica Road, one of the busiest road on the island. But just turn down Silver Lake Drive and you will find a beautiful little lake and lots of Hooded Mergansers. It is an elegant duck.

The Start of Something

Jekyll is an island. 65 % of the island is natural (undeveloped) by state law.

We need to educate folks about the special features of this island. Jonathan Gray is one of the staff of the Jekyll Island 4-H center. The 4-H staff not only believes that this island is special, they are teaching kids about the nature of a barrier island. When I see a 4-H class out, I want to join in the class. They look like they are having a great time learning

Now what Jonathan & I have in common is we see birds as great ambassadors to environmental education. So when he called me at Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop on Jekyll Island and told me what he had proposed, I was excited. Wait let's back up, a lot of people want us to give them set ups and feeders. When we go back we find that the feeders are neglected, falling down. So I asked Jonathan for his plan. Here it is, an outdoor class room to teach a variety of subjects. He told me that birds are not high on most school list of courses when they come to the island. But what if you are learning about forest succession & behind the teacher is a see-through tarp with a feeder behind it? Birds coming and going while the teacher talks about healthy environment encourages a diversity of species. Perfect!
Here is Jonathan with the plan for the outdoor class room. Our store mascot, Jay B Watcher, is giving us the thumbs up on this plan. More will follow as the plan become a reality.

Huddling from the cold

While most of Georgia was dealing with snow, we were dealing with rain and cold. On Monday when driving over to Wild Birds Unlimited to work, I stopped at one of my hidden birding spots. Huddled in the marsh grasses were Willets, Greater Yellowlegs and a few herons & egrets.


There was not a lot of business at the shop so I did inventory and watched the feeders. Even when it rains on Jekyll, it is still fun.