Spring Break Parties Attract Crowds of Wild Birds

                    

When island ponds dry up, trapped fish provide a short-lived bonanza for egrets, herons and other wading birds. The carnival atmosphere lasts until the fish are gone. Then many of the partiers move on to other venues.   

 

When the dry season is very dry, as it has been recently, and coincides with a seasonal drop in the coastal sea level, many wetlands lose all their water. In areas where ponds are connected to the bays during periods of high water, those connections can dry up and then the fish in the ponds have no way to escape. 

 

This distressing predicament for the fish provides a welcome feast for wetland birds, especially roaming groups of Great Egrets. 

                   

 

In the pond near our house, at first there was enough for everyone. The fish were easy to grab in the shallow water, and the resident Green Herons got their share along with the larger Great Egrets. 

                  

Even the secretive Clapper Rails, which usually pick up bugs and small crabs along the edge of the pond, seized this opportunity to venture into the water and drag out some fish. 

                 

 

 

But soon things got quite competitive. More Great Egrets arrived the next day, and the larger ones seemed to spend most of their time honking and pushing other birds out of pond spaces they claimed as their territory. They even chased after another egret that was having trouble swallowing a particularly feisty fish. 

                 

 

A Great Blue Heron came by on the third day to see what all the excitement was about. There wasn’t much room in the pond by then, with more egrets and less water. It grabbed a few fish and quickly moved on.  

                 

 

A couple of Little Blue Herons also made an appearance but seemed more interested in chasing each other around than actually doing any fishing. They mostly stayed in the trees and watched the action. When they did make it into the pond the other birds didn’t seem very pleased, and pressured them to go away. 

                

 

Then some Great Egrets showed up in mating plumage, apparently thinking about activities other than fishing.

  

               

 But after the fourth day, most of the food was gone and the influencers had found somewhere else to preen. I was sad to see them go.   

Gray Kingbirds Emerge as Leaders in the Annual St. John Bird Count

 

There’s been no shortage of bugs, so it’s not surprising that local insect-eaters are thriving.

 

Gray Kingbirds are known as flycatchers but will also chase bees and a variety of other flying insects. They are often seen perching on treetops, then darting out and back to snatch a bug flying by. I see them most in the morning when the sun lights up the tops of the trees, and the insects that feed up there become active. The kingbirds call attention to themselves with their screechy sounds, a bit like a police whistle. 

 

The 2020 bird count was actually held after New Year’s, on January 2, 2021. About 45 volunteers helped with the count – experienced birders and their friends and families, plus new recruits, including members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. John.

 

The annual event was organized by the Virgin Islands Audubon Society, under the guidance of VI National Park Ranger Laurel Brannick. To help people prepare, and learn more about birds they might see, the Friends of the VI National Park sponsored a video presentation by Laurel Brannick, with local bird photos by Gail Karlsson. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOaFjrXDh-M&feature=youtu.be

 

Counters spread out in selected areas across the island to record how many different species and birds they could see on that day. After all the report sheets were turned in, they were compiled by Audubon Board Member Phyllis Benton. Once the results were tabulated, Phyllis submitted them to the National Audubon Society for inclusion in a broader analysis of bird numbers, migration and overall health.

 

Many birds in the Virgin Islands are still recovering from the impacts of the 2017 hurricanes, when there was widespread destruction of forests and a serious loss of food sources for wildlife. 

 

By now, though, there is much greater availability of berries, fruits and seeds for local doves and pigeons.

 

 

There are also flowers around to provide nectar for hummingbirds and bananaquits. 

 

 

Lizard-eating American Kestrels reached a high of 37 this year, compared to 12 after the storms. This was the highest number for many years. Last year at this time, pairs could be seen mating enthusiastically around the island. As a result, there are now young birds around St. John that could be ready to start their own families soon.  

 

 

This year the Gray Kingbirds topped the chart at 233. Unfortunately, this is still way less than the numbers counted in the years just before the storms. In 2014 there were 607!    

 

Looking back to the last count in December 2019, it was Brown Pelicans that were the most numerous – 332 pelicans vs. 168 kingbirds that year. This time only 52 pelicans were reported.

 

In December 2017, after the storms, the pelican count was down to 21. The next year there were 128, which was about normal (in 2014 there were 123). Then there was a big jump to 332 in 2019, so it looked like they were doing extremely well, followed by the dramatic fall this year.

 

 

What’s happening with the pelicans? 

 

It’s hard to say. Pelicans can fly around and move to places where the fish are plentiful. Maybe it’s just that the fishing was good here last year and is better somewhere else now. 

 

In any event, a one-day count is never entirely accurate. You can see the same birds all the time, and then when you want to count them, some of them are hiding out.   

 

Also, this year the count day was very windy, and the water was rough around St. John. As a result, the National Park boat was not able to go out, and there were no offshore sightings recorded. That would explain some of the drop in the pelican count.  

 

Another factor could be loss of the pelican’s customary breeding spots. A kayaker friend reported that the hurricanes mowed down the trees along the northern edges of St. John where pelicans had established nesting areas, and those nests have not been replaced. Maybe some of the pelicans moved away to find better nesting areas. 

 

Over a period of years, we can sometimes discern clear trends, and sometimes there are just unexplained differences. It will be interesting to see how many pelicans are counted next year.  

 

Some of the same types of factors may have affected the Brown Booby count this year, which was down by about half from last year. Only 18 were counted this time, compared to 34 in December 2019. 

 

 

Although bird lovers can’t realistically provide fish and nests to support water birds, we can become more educated about protecting bird habitats, including mangrove areas that serve as nurseries for fish as well as birds. For land-based birds, we can protect and propagate native plants (and insects) that are important for feeding birds and their babies, as we learn more about the complex ecosystems we live in.