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St. Marks Refuge Adventure |
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by Terry Godts
My husband Marc and I were invited by our friends Faith and Doug Hoogs for a Thanksgiving birding trip to the Panhandle with the St. Petersburg Audubon Society. I’ve been a birdwatcher for 30 some years, but not a good one. I suspected I had to bird with good birders to improve, so Marc and I tagged along. And I’m so glad we did.
What a great trip! Our leaders were Judi Hopkins and Ron Smith, both remarkably knowledgeable about birds and their habitats, and excellent organizers too. A group of some 15-20 enthusiastic birders bunked at the Inn at Wildwood, a “green hotel” near Crawfordsville, with environmentally responsible features like recycling, low-flow showers, and native landscaping.
We visited several terrific locations during our three-day trip. The highlight of our first evening for me was hiking through a magnificent marsh at Bald Point, the sky at dusk full of wading birds flying to roost, and finding a small flock of Greater Yellowlegs, resting on a muddy bank very close to us, lit by the light of a lovely sunset. It was a perfect moment and an auspicious beginning to our trip.
Our second day started early just outside St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. I’d been to this incredible area before, but being with real birders made it a richer, fuller experience. I learned my first important birding lesson on this trip. A little human “psh-ing” or playing a taped call of the Eastern Screech Owl brings a variety of birds right to you for relatively easy viewing! This method brought the Brown-headed Nuthatch we were hoping to see.
At the St. Marks lighthouse, we found a large number of duck species. I learned another birding trick here: the scope! We were able to see birds at great distances with the scopes my fellow birders selflessly shared with me and others. The sheer number of ducks we saw on this trip was most amazing to me. For others, I think the sighting of a Common Goldeneye was the highlight.
Our guides, Judi and Ron, accurately predicted the unusual behavior of two species, the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow and the Henslow’s Sparrow. Without their assistance, I never would have seen either of these birds.
Henslow’s Sparrows typically fly only 30 feet or so when disturbed, and rely on their camouflage for protection. This made it easy to distinguish from the other sparrows in an open field our guides were familiar with. Twice we were able to find the little Henslow in the grass looking up at us from side to side. I can't describe the joy I felt seeing this tiny bird so close and in such detail, with my fellow birders enjoying the special moment with me.
Although there were wonderful moments too numerous to describe here, one of my favorites was enjoying an American Avocet at close range as it slowly waded by. Ron had spotted it at a distance, and as it moved in our direction, he maneuvered our position toward a blind where several other birders and I got a close and lengthy look at this beautiful bird. Equally special was sharing this trip with Judi, who hadn’t been to this area since the death of her husband. I would like to have known him also.
One final important lesson I learned: bird with birders! It’s essential to improvement. And these birders couldn’t have been more helpful, friendly, and encouraging. I’ve been on another birding trip with some of these folks since our Thanksgiving trip, and again saw many species I would never have seen on my own. I’m so grateful to my friends Faith and Doug for inviting Marc and me, and to Judi and Ron and the folks of St. Petersburg Audubon who have opened up a door to birding I’d only imagined.
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