Little St. Simons Island

On February 19 a group of Bird Ramblers were going on an adventure. We were exploring another Georgia barrier island, Little St. Simons Island. This small island is north and a little east of St. Simons Island. Little St. Simons Island is a private island with an extraordinary small lodge.

The only way over there is by a ferry. There is a limit to the number of guests permitted on the island at a time so we made our reservations for a birding day trip. What an opportunity! This island is know for the abundant of birdlife Let me quote from the website “Little St. Simons Island and the surrounding Altamaha River delta are recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the American Bird Conservancy and are also recognized as a reserve site by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN). "
The last part is what our little group is looking forward too. We all wanted to see shorebirds.
Here is the way we got around the island. See Ben on the left, he was our guide.

All the staff is great. Thanks Ben for a great day!

After weeks of rain and cold we finally had good weather. In the morning we visited the south end and looked at a Great Horned Owl nest. There sitting snug in that nest was a big fuzzy owlet. On our walk back to the truck there were a few little birds flitting ahead of us. To our surprise two of them were Brown-headed Nuthatches! Everyone got great looks at these piney woods birds.

After a wonderful lunch we were off to the beach for shorebirds galore, Marbled Godwits, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Piping Plovers, and Red Knots just to name a few. What a day!

Images from the Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival

As folks share their pictures with me I will share them with you.

Here are some from Steve Frazier. He was on two field trips Cumberland Island & Little St. Simons Island

Marshes in the morning show why we call this area the Golden Isles

Here is what Steve said about the marsh shot: "The marsh picture was taken in the morning around 8:20 AM from the dock to catch the boat to Little SSI – it is not touched up what so ever – those are the true colors."

About the butterflies:

" The White Peacock was taken just before noon on Cumberland Island, about halfway between the castle ruins and the path to the water."


"The Queen was taken on Little SSI around 2:00 PM in the flowers in front of the boat landing."

and here are a couple of Shorebirds

Thanks Steve for sharing.