Washington Oaks Field Trip

Where: Washington Oaks Gardens State Park

When: Saturday, March 30

Time: 8 AM to noon

Location: Meet at the picnic grounds at the end of the road

We had a great chapter meeting this past Monday at the library in St. Augustine. About 20 people turned out to hear Washington Oaks park ranger Joe Woodbury give a talk on the Timucuan Indians, who lived in this area for about 2000 years. Joe truly made history come to life with great slides and hands-on artifacts.

We will actually see the area where many of these Indians lived when we go on our next field trip, to Washington Oaks itself. Washington Oaks is in Palm Coast, covering the land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River.

At Washington Oaks you can walk along the beach, or explore their extensive trail system. You can walk the loop that explores the ecotone between the coastal maritime hammock and the estuarine tidal march along the Matanzas River, or explore a mature coastal maritime hammock, and venture into the edge of a dense canopied coastal scrub. Washington Oaks is a well-known spot for warblers and is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail.

Check out their birding checklist, and feel free to print out a copy to bring along with you. It should be a wonderful day!

Our March Chapter Meeting

Where: St. Johns Main Library, St. Augustine

When: Monday, March 25

Time: 6-8 PM

Join us this Monday for our chapter meeting at the library. We'd love to have you hear our presentation, and to socialize with other birders in the area.

Our presenter this month is Joseph Woodbury from Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. Joe is a Park Services Specialist at Washington Oaks and is a recipient of the statewide Interpreter of the Year award for his interpretations of the park.

Joe's talk for us will be about the Timucuan Indians. The Timucuans lives in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia and were the largest indigenous group in the area, and flourished along the rivers.

Our presentation will be followed up on Saturday, March 30, by a walk at Washington Oaks. Washington Oaks offers riverfront, oceanfront, maritime hammocks, woodlands, and should offer a wonderful birding experience.

A Wonderful boat ride

Mother Nature certainly smiled on St. Johns Audubon last Saturday. She had threatened us with chilly weather all week, and we were prepared to bundle up for the boat ride. But on Saturday she relented, and gave us a lovely sunny day - a bit on the cool side, but just refreshingly so.

And the day was delightful for birds as well - though lots of small shorebirds seen off on the sands made many of us wish for a good spotting scope to be sure of our IDs.

People did dress for the weather, but it got quite warm as the sun rose higher. And we had a great turnout of people as well, all out for a lovely boat ride and continental breakfast in support of St. Johns Audubon and HAWKE.

We saw ospreys all along the route as we traveled the waterfront along Porpoise Point and Anastasia Island along Salt Run.

We had lots of great spotters, who were treated to more than just the array of birds that were seen that morning.

We were also treated to a school of dolphins, joyfully leaping in and out of the water as they followed alongside the boat.

But there were also birds. The following is just a partial list of the birds seen on the trip, but if I get in reports of other species from others I'll post them here to try to have a complete list of species seen:


Red-breasted Merganser
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Reddish Egret
White Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Gannet
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Willet
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Boat-tailed Grackle

And stay tuned here for details about our upcoming meeting on March 25th, and a field trip afterwards.

Neighborhood Nature Walk Fun (and a boat trip tomorrow!)

What a shame so few people joined us on Tuesday for our latest Neighborhood Nature Walk. It was a glorious early spring day, and sunlight was sparkling on the waters at the Bayview Samantha Wilson Center. There were gulls galore as usual, and the laughing gulls were nearly all fully into their breeding plumage, and filling the air with their laughter.

There were just three of us along for the walk, but a small group is also a good one for spotting birds and being able to share everything seen and heard with the group. The tide was out and there were lots of small shorebirds out on the mudflats, and we found ourselves wishing for a scope.

Several times we witnessed this osprey coming in for a meal, but coming up empty-taloned in its quest for fish.

This handsome immature red-tailed hawk with the bold dark belly-band was equally unsuccessful as we watched it. We hope both birds had better luck after we left the area!

After watching the shore birds a while we strolled through the neighborhood, serenaded by blue jays, yellow-rumped warblers, and red-bellied woodpeckers, and wound up at Lake Maria Sanchez.

There in the lake we saw a couple of hooded mergansers. They are such pretty birds and I was happy they hadn't left us for the season yet.

This anhinga almost seemed to pose for us as it rested and sunned itself at the edge of the lake.

We spotted a few great blue herons as well, but this one gave us the closest view.  All it all it was wonderful day, and we saw or heard 40 different species of birds in this small neighborhood area. We had a great time and hope more of you will join us next time. Next time could be as early as tomorrow!

After all,  it's not too late to sign up for tomorrow's Wildlife Boat Tour out of St. Augustine.

And by the way, here is the complete list of species from our morning:

Hooded Merganser
Wood Stork
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
White Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Ruddy Turnstone
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle

Parking Lot Birding!

Date:  Tuesday, March 5

Time:  9 AM – 11 AM

Where:  Bayview, COA, and Maria Sanchez 

It's time to join us for our next Neighborhood Nature Walk! We will gather for the walk this coming Tuesday.  Meet at the back of the parking area, Bayview's Samantha Wilson Center, at 181 Marine Street, St. Augustine.

Special places are where you find them, and this is a very birdie area.  The ecotone or edge along the back marsh has seedy bushes which attract a variety of birds. We'll bird around the  parking lots, then check the harbor in front of the buildings.  If time allows, we'll also include nearby Lake Maria Sanchez on our walk.

Please see previous entries for lists of some of the great bird species we have seen on our neighborhood walks and field trips. This is a great way to get an introduction to the birds that live right in your neighborhood. We look forward to seeing you there.