September has just begun, but already there have been lots of interesting finds throughout the island’s rich and diverse habitats. There is evidence of fall bird migration on the shores and in the forest. For example, large groups numbering 1000s of Red Knots have been present on the northern island beach; naturalists have sighted many birds that have leg bands. Piping Plovers are also present and we have seen many banded individuals among them as well. Most have flags indicating they have come from the Great Lakes region. Eight species of terns are present — Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, Common, Gull-billed, Black, and Least terns can all be detected with a scope. American Oystercatchers are present in small flocks, most likely these are the birds that were nesting here this summer. Long-billed Curlew, Reddish Egret, Marbled Godwit, Willet, sandpipers, plovers, and dowitchers can also be seen. There are beginning to be reports of Peregrine Falcon. There is also good warbler activity; Yellow, Hooded, Black and White, Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, and American Redstart have been sighted, along with a possible Canada Warbler one afternoon. Huge flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds are gathering in the marshes, and small groups of Tree Swallows are also present at some of the ponds.

Along with great birds, there are many other types of wildlife activity on the island. In the past week, naturalist Ben has found a newborn kingsnake and watched a baby rattlesnake swim a creek. Fishing opportunities have been abundant; anglers are pleased to be catching redfish, black drum, flounder, trout, sharks, whiting, bluefish, and catfish from the creeks, beach, or skiffs.  One young angler even hooked a redfish that had a tag attached to it. We called the hotline number on the tag and are awaiting more info on his fish (he had to throw it back because it was just a bit undersized!). Tarpon have been sighted in Mosquito and Bass Creek, as well as the Hampton River. Baitfish schools are abundant.  Sea turtle nesting is winding down for females coming ashore, but nests are still continuing to hatch. The total number of nests is 111 for the season. Of those, 85 have hatched already.

As always, mammals are active and abundant. Marsh rabbits, fallow deer, raccoon, opossum, armadillo, and gray squirrels are all out and about, many including youngsters. Insect life abounds with grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, dragonflies, and butterflies (including swallowtails, sulphers, whites, and the lovely gulf fritillary) present by sight or sound. Come for a visit and see what you can find…

The naturalist staff of Little St Simons was excited to initiate our very first Junior Naturalist on Saturday.  Elise Savant spent two days on the island with family; her mom Kristen, and dad Jody, her sisters Anna and Elle and her brother John Paul.  Our junior naturalist program encourages kids to learn about the island as they go on naturalist-led excursions, and includes an activity book with opportunities to explore various island habitats in an in-depth way.  Elise did a great job, enthusiastically finding shells and learning about the beach, and using a skiff ride with her family to explore the salt marsh.  Great job Elise and congratulations!

The month of August has been a hot one, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still plenty of exciting opportunities to discover wildlife on Little St. Simons Island!  From the beach to the forests, wildlife can still be found around every corner, high and low. Here are some observations noted by our naturalists for the month:

• Shorebird numbers are great on Sancho Panza beach at the northern tip of LSSI; more sandpipers, plovers, godwits, dowitchers, knots, willets and other shore species are gathering each day on their return from northern breeding grounds. Red knots are numbering in the hundreds, and one flock was estimated at 3000 birds! Reddish Egret and Long-billed Curlew can also be spotted, although not daily. Adult Black Skimmers with this year’s young are also fun to watch. There have been Royal, Caspian, Gull-billed, Least, and Black Terns present as well.
• Warblers are also beginning to move through the island. Yellow Warblers in particular are abundant in the shrubs along Beach Road
• A manatee was spotted by our boat captains on August 13. The manatee was near the barge dock and swam down Mosquito Creek past the boat dock. Luckily for some of our island guests, they were just getting back from a skiff ride, and got to watch the manatee for several minutes before it swam on. It came up to the surface several times, letting everyone have a great look!
• Reptiles have been more active, and several sightings occurred mid-day in the past week, including eastern diamondback, black racer, and yellow rat snake. A new alligator nest has been constructed in the past several days at the southern end of Myrtle Pond and can be seen easily from the road. Baby green anoles and immature skinks can be found throughout the island!
• Green Fly Orchid is on bloom and Beauty Berries are turning purple.
• One of the state’s non-game biologists, Trina Morris, brought a team of interns back to LSSI to further investigate the island bat populations after an initial visit in May. On August 3-4, the team mist netted for bats. On the first night, they set up in the woods and collected one evening bat. The next night, the team set up in the compound and caught an amazing 27 bats! 15 were seminole bats and 13 were evening bats. We will continue to work with the state to monitor and find out more about the bats of LSSI. Did you know that all the bats in Georgia are insect eaters and are doing a great job at feeding on mosquitoes?
• The nesting season for sea turtles is slowing down for females coming to the beach. We are holding steady at 109 sea turtle nests (which is just shy of our record 113 nests set in 2007). So far, 44 nests have hatched, and one of the hatches last week was during a sea turtle walk with guests! Many folks got to see the breath-taking sight of baby turtles erupting from a nest; after we watched in wonder for a few minutes, we left the turtles to find their way to the sea uninterupted.
• Fishing has been good in the creeks, surf, and in the skiffs. One particularly fun catch on a skiff was a beautiful butterfly ray which was released unharmed after it was admired.

Come visit LSSI and discover for yourself some of the wonders of nature on a quiet barrier island!

LSSI might well be called Little St. Simons Dry-land, as soaring July temperatures and a lack of any abundant precipitation are leaving the island a bit parched these days. Many plants are begging for a good rainfall, and most ponds are fluctuating between looking like dry, cracked mud flats or small shallows pools after light rains.

Early morning and late afternoon are clearly the best times to seek out wildlife, while the temperatures are a bit less severe. During the heat of the day the active naturalist can still seek out plenty of wildlife including shorebirds at the beach, wading birds around the ponds, raccoons, dragonflies, tiger beetles, swallowtails, and a few of the hardier reptiles. Many fallow deer are  active in the early and late hours of the day, including bucks with impressive antler growth and does accompanied by small fawns.

Notable birds in late July include Piping Plover, Whimbrel, Yellowlegs, Louisiana Waterthrush, American Bittern, and large groups of 50 or more Black-necked Stilts. Other migrants arriving on our shores include Dowitchers, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, and Western Sandpiper. Long-billed Curlew, Black Tern, Reddish Egret, and others shorebirds are also noted daily.

Dolphin sightings are particularly fun if you are swimming in the surf as they pass offshore. Pulling the seine nets is another way to stay cool, and to discover the amazing life in the shallows at the same time; small fish, crabs, urchins, jellies, and other sea life have been found in the kick nets. Surf fishing is another option, and small sharks seem to be the most abundant catch lately. In the creeks, shrimp and bait fish are abundant, but redfish, black drum, and the occasional trout or flounder are still biting.

No matter the season or the temperature, you can still find something wild on Little St. Simons Island!

Sea turtle activity continues to be productive on the shores of Little St. Simons Island. As of July 18, we have 96 confirmed nests and have seen 140 additional non-nesting emergences. Hatching of early nests has begun as well; two nests have emerged this week!

Guests continue to accompany our naturalists to the beach for night time walks in the hopes of encountering females and hatchling turtles. Earlier this week, a female turtle was spotted in the surf by one of the night walking groups, but immediately returned to the sea. She appeared to have waited a bit then moved slightly north on the beach to successfully nest; her crawl and nest cavity were confirmed the next morning!

Mississippi Kite have been sighted twice on Little St. Simons Island this week. The first sighting was on July 5 at Sancho Panza near the second fishing hole. The second sighting was on Saturday, July 10 in the main compound. The birds are not regularly seen on LSSI although they are found nearby, nesting in groups along the Altamaha River corridor.

It was a great afternoon of birding at Sancho Panza beach today, with a variety of shorebirds and other species. An Osprey greeted our group by flying from a distant driftwood perch to directly overhead. As we approached the shoreline, Willets were feeding along the surf edge. We looked across the creek, and saw not one but two Long-billed Curlew resting on the beach! Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, and Black-bellied Plover fed busily in the wet sand. Royal and Least Terns were resting on the shoreline; Black Terns, a Gull-billed Tern, and Black Skimmers flew above the creek water. Waders included Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Tri-colored Heron, and Reddish Egret.  Brown Pelican, American Oystercatcher, and Black-necked Stilt were also present.

After the beach, we stopped in for a brief visit at the Myrtle Pond blind where we got to watch Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, Snowy Egret, and Tri-colored Herons. We also enjoyed seeing young Mottled Duck and Common Moorhen, as well as several birds bathing in the freshwater, including Red-winged Blackbird and Boat-tailed Grackle.

June has been a very exciting month for wildlife on LSSI! Here are some of the highlights:

• Fallow Deer fawns are being born and can be seen with their mothers throughout the island

• Black Skimmers, Least Terns, Wilson’s Plovers, and American Oystercatchers are all nesting successfully on our beaches; three of the American Oystercatcher chicks were fitted with leg bands to help track them throughout their lifetime and two of the three have been seen flying along the waters edge at the beach!

• Groups of baby armadillos have been seen on Beach Rd.

• Sea Oats are maturing on the beach and are a beautiful pale green in color

• Sea turtle nesting is very successful; our current tally is 64 nests and 91 non-nesting emergences (false crawls); on June 9, an injured green sea turtle was found and taken to the turtle center on Jekyll Island, and on June 14, a green sea turtle crawl was found — no nest was discovered, but the area is marked as a potential nest site that we will continue to monitor

• Fishing in the surf and the creeks has been productive for small to medium sized sharks, and the creeks are very productive with bait fish and shrimp; juvenile (6 – 10 inch) redfish can be seen swimming just under the surface in Mosquito Creek when the conditions are right

• Black Terns and Reddish Egret have been sighted in and around the beach pond

• There was a lightning strike mid-month that ignited a small wildfire in the large tract of marsh east of Myrtle Pond; because these types of wildfires are a natural process (and beneficial!) the head fire was allowed to burn itself out naturally and the backing fire was extinguished for safety. The estimated area burned was about 4 acres.

With all of these exciting things happening on Little St. Simons Island, don’t you think it’s time for your next (or first) visit? We hope to see you soon!

There have been good numbers of Roseate Spoonbills on Little St. Simons Island as of late. The gorgeous pink wading birds have been seen in nice sized flocks at Skimmer Pond, Myrtle Pond, and North Pond. High numbers have been in the 20s. At Myrtle Pond, the spoonbills have been spotted from the tower, north and south ends of the pond, and at the blind for a lucky few guests.  A variety of age classes have been in all locations.

Recent activity at Myrtle Pond includes some new additions to the LSSI family, as Common Moorhens can be seen out and about with their chicks. Many of the chicks, especially on the south end of the pond, are only about a week old, and still very black and downy. There are also some older, more independent chicks throughout the pond; they can be distinguished by the similar markings to their parents, but more overall grayish color.