Yellow Jasmine, also called Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is blooming along Beach Road, adding a beautiful burst of yellow color to the island. The climbing vine also bloomed for just one day on December 31!
Yellow Jasmine is a fast growing evergreen native to the southeastern United States. It normally blooms from late winter to early spring, depending on temperature.
There is big news from the south end of Little St. Simons Island — the eagle eggs have hatched! On Monday, naturalists noted that the activity level of the adult had increased, which along with the timing of incubation, made us begin to think that the eggs had hatched. The cool weather prevented any chicks from showing themselves, so we decided to visit the site again yesterday. The day was cold and windy, so no chicks presented themselves, but the adult could be seen tearing flesh off a prey item, then bending into the nest to feed the chicks. It’s our belief that two chicks are present in the south nest!
On the north end, both adults were present yesterday afternoon. One was on the edge of the nest, then flew over to a nearby branch. The other adult appeared to continue incubation with its body laying flat against the nest. Given the posture, we feel that this nest has a bit more time before hatching.
The great horned owl also continued to incubate eggs, without a lot of movement. The owl has been noted on the nest for 27 days, and the incubation period is around 26-35 days, so we’ll be able to see the downy chicks any day now!
The naturalists have had a fun and busy month conducting several island surveys looking at bird populations. On January 7, we were joined by several fellow birders from around the state to conduct a trial Christmas Bird Count. The Christmas Bird Count is a nationwide effort for surveying birds, and we wanted to do a “practice run” in the hopes of establishing the island as an official count site for the future. During the count, the whole island was broken into sections and every bird encountered was tallied. There were 112 species overall, and approximately 3,693 birds. Additionally, our friends the Yellow-rumped Warblers numbered in the thousands, and one counter estimated just the Yellow-rumps to be 16,315 birds! This number is probably high, but it goes to show that nearly every shrub on the island had warblers flitting about in them! Other highlights of the Christmas bird count were 19 Mallard, 27 Piping Plover, 10 Wilson’s Plover, 50 White Pelican, 1 Long-billed Curlew, 189 Red Knot, 1 Western Kingbird, and 1 Ipswich Sparrow, a race of the Savannah Sparrow. We are reviewing past records, but we believe this may be the first documented Ipswich for the island!
On January 13, the naturalists braved a wet, drizzly morning to conduct the Mid-Winter Bald Eagle Survey. We share the data collected with state biologists who track eagle populations. Only four eagles were counted; there were three adults and one immature bird.
January 16 brought the Mid-Winter Shorebird Survey. This is a survey coordinated by the state; all the beaches in Georgia are surveyed at the same time on the same day, to give us an idea of how many shorebirds utilize the coast in the winter months. Winds were strong from the North, and temperatures were barely in the 40s, so many birds were staying low, tucked down in the sand behind small piles of rack. 19 species of shorebirds were counted on Little St. Simons Island, with a total of 3,666 birds. The highest count were Dunlin, at 2,071. Far behind were Sanderling (323), Western Sandpiper (292), and Black-bellied Plover (207). 89 American Oystercatchers were noted, and 14 of them had colored leg bands. 23 Red Knots were counted, but we did not see any Long-billed Curlew.
The last day of 2008 was as beautiful as they come on LSSI, and the nature did not disappoint either. On the morning tour, we started out with Tri-colored Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, American Coot, and Pied-billed Grebe at the east tower. As we drove along Myrtle Pond Road, the sun was shining and we were excited to see a gorgeous Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake cross the road in front of us. It was a first for many of our guests this week! We stopped at the blind on Myrtle Pond and got a peek at a lingering Roseate Spoonbill, its bright pink feathers illuminated by the sun. At Sancho Panza beach, our ultimate destination, we started to look at a nice flock of Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Plover and Ruddy Turnstone, but we were quickly distracted. A group of dolphin were feeding and chasing fish very near the shore in the mouth of the creek, and we spend several minutes watching and trying to photograph their antics. We topped off the morning with Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, American Oystercatcher, Royal Tern, Forster’s Tern, and Ring-billed Gull. We can only hope that 2009 is filled with as many fantastic wildlife experiences as the past year has been. Our best to everyone in the coming year; we look forward to seeing friends new and old on the island! Happy New Year!
