The Gray Kingbird

They are back. Well at least one is back. There are birds I watch for everyday during a season. The Gray Kingbird at the shopping center on Jekyll is one such bird. This year April came and I started looking for the Gray Kingbird….no bird. May 15th came but no bird. I was sad, so sad. These kingbirds are just a delight to watch. They swoop down catch a bug then back up the wire. Good news, yesterday one Gray Kingbirds was on the wire singing it cheerful song. It was just late very late. Does anyone else notice that a lot of our bird species are late this year?

My camera quite working in mid April so I am depending on folks to share their photos. This last weekend, I had the pleasure of being part of an Atlanta Audubon's Shorebird Workshop weekend. It was awesome! Dunlins, dowitchers, willets and oystercatchers, oh my, all gorging themselves on horseshoe crab eggs. Red Knots were found at several locations. On Sunday we had a huge flock at the south end of Jekyll. There were several birds that were banded. Here is a photo taken by Pat Leary. The horseshoe crabs are in the foreground with the knots and sanderlings fanatically feasting.

Well, I could not find the nest of the spoonbills. It did look promising. Oh well I will keep watching.
Now the Wilson's Plovers at the south end of Jekyll are nesting. Any day now we are going to have little plover chicks racing around the dunes. Here are two of the Wilson's Plovers together taken back in April.

Roseate Spoonbills

Wow! Last week, I remembered how powerful an experience drawing outdoors can be. Drawing and painting outside is called Plein Air. There is nothing like it. You are living in the moment; more than that you are recording the moments. Here are Wood Storks trying to nest at the amphiteater.

Glynn Art Association invites a few of their artists to take part in a fund raiser for the children’s art programs called the Plein Air Affair. This year, I was asked to be part of this event. I choose to draw at the Jekyll amphitheater. The birds are nesting there so they are sitting still. They are much easier to draw that way. Love is definitely in the air. While I drew a pair of egrets, I witness a first for Georgia. I witness the first pair of Roseate Spoonbills mating. We birders have been waiting for this for years. Where would they nest? That question was on everyone’s mind. And because I was drawing and sitting still, I was able to document this for science. Art and science go hand-in-hand for me.

Willets in the marsh

Last week, we had a Willet on the south end of Jekyll. It looked very different because it was an eastern Willet returning to nest. They are the long legged shorebirds sitting on the wires on the causeway. The western Willet are the gray guys eating all the small clams on the beach. They should be heading out to the Great Plains soon. As we walked back to the van we crunched through lots of those tiny clams. Look that is all those tiny clams.

Cedar Waxwings

Sorry guys it has been a very long and cold winter. Good news things are looking up. Speaking of looking up, for weeks now the Cedar Waxwings have been gathering. They are helping each other prepare for the migration north. Beautiful birds!

More on the Grand Opening

Here is what the new Savannah National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center and Headquarters looks like. This new headquarters is located on US 17 just over the South Caroline boarder from the city of Savannah. The picture below shows Pat Metz cutting the ribbon for the new Visitor Center and Headquarters for the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. This has been a dream for a lot of folks but Pat Metz has been dreaming this for her career.

There were many tours offered in the afternoon but the tour for me was Pat Metz’s tour of the wildlife viewing drive. I have been going to the refuge for over 20 years still I learn more on this one tour than in those 20 years. I even got to be a master bander on a bird study in 2000 and 2001. But going out with Pat just added to the place. Below is a picture from the refuge looking at the Savannah River. Those structures are part of the Port of Savannah. Remembering Helen Tapp’s talk on the Great Pressure was evident with those structures.
But look to the right and there are Blue-winged Teal swimming quietly with a Coot behind them.
The tour was for everyone. See young people to retired people can enjoy the refuge.
Here on the refuge there is time for talking and sharing.
I was sorry to miss the Nature Walk with John “Crawfish” Crawford. But here he is pointing out Needle Palms to Gene Keferl. Gene & I ran into him as we walked the nature trail before the ceremony started. It just shows me there is so to learn and enjoy on the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.