Retired Nomads: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Day 2

October 6

We had a very nice birding tour this morning. We love when we “luck” into these birding trips because the guides are so knowledgeable about the birds in their area. There were only 7 of us in the group with 1 guide and the driver was also a guide. Being in a vehicle with them allowed us access to areas where we could walk on our own, but not take our car in. So, covering way more distance. Plus, these guys know their birds at a glance, where we often times get photos and figure them out when we get home. (or at least give it our best shot) We saw tons of Ospreys (one caught a fish and ate it in a tree) We saw a total of 7 Bald Eagles today. 2 appeared to be in a courtship flying together.

Plus, it really is just a beautiful scenic spot. No Red-cockaded Woodpeckers to be found. The St. Marks area is quite large and we think they are in a totally different area.

We didn’t see anything new, but it was a beautiful day out with like-minded birders and we saw many things in great numbers. Blue-winged Teals, Marbled Godwits, 3 young Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, a lone Spotted Sandpiper, Common Gallinules and a Purple Gallinule with a young one. We saw lots of small gators and 1 pretty large one (about 10 feet).

Osprey

young Gallinule

mixed flocks of Egrets, & Roseate Spoonbills & herons

young Roseate Spoonbills

Snowy Egrets

Blue-winged Teals (not in breeding colors)

the grassy area is the part we drove on

Common Gallinule

salt water side

Bald Eagle

Osprey with a fish

American Coot

Pied-billed Grebes

gator

Eagle nest

White Ibis

Little Blue Heron

We got a rare treat of seeing a Bobcat. The birds started freaking out and we were all trying to figure out what was bothering them. Many expected a raptor was the culprit, but it turned out to be this guy. It's really dark for a Bobcat, but it was wet and probably muddy. It was across the water from us, so didn't get great photos.

Marbled Godwit

Great Blue Heron

Caspian Tern (with the orange bill)

Osprey

Marbled Godwit

Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs & Snowy Egret

Bald Eagle

Reddish Egret

large gator - at least 10 feet

Common Gallinules & young

Osprey

Striated Heron

The truck & trailer used for the tour

It was a 3 hour tour which took us to lunch time. We had planned to spend lunch and part of the afternoon there today after the tour so we had a picnic lunch at one of their picnic tables and we had a nice breeze which kept the mosquitos at bay and it was pleasant to sit outside.

We drove down to the Lighthouse and walked a short trail near there.

Scissor-tailed Flycather

As we were driving to our next place to hike, we saw a gator almost on the road. We backed up to take a look and it stayed right there. I got great shots from my window. He did stand up and moved back a bit and then laid right back down.

We walked a couple of miles or so on the St. Marks Unit Primitive Walking Trails before calling it a day. Not a lot of birds to be seen, but it was a nice walk.