Jekyll Island - Shorebirding: the Sequel

Saturday March 6 was our last day on Jekyll Island and I was still a few birds shy of 200 on my life list. For me to obtain this milestone on our trip, we decided to visit one remaining locale where it was plausible to add some additional species: the Jekyll Island causeway. This approximately six mile stretch of Georgia State Route 520 is an estuarine habitat providing mud flats for shorebirds to congregate and feed. A few shorebirds that I had not seen were the Short-Billed Dowitcher, the Western and Least Sandpipers, and the Black-Bellied and Semipalmated Plovers.

Shorebirds of the Jekyll Island Causeway

 

The best viewpoints of the causeway are either at the visitor center for Jekyll Island (in which you can climb up an observation tower to overlook the estuary) or you have to park on the side of the causeway and view birds in mudflats from the road shoulder (see map). To best view birds at these locations, a spotting scope is a necessity. For those who are not birders, a spotting scope is like a telescope but provides magnification at a less zoomed in scale since it is used to look at birds and other wildlife and not celestial bodies (the one I borrowed from my father in law Mark was 20-60x zoom).

We first stopped at the visitor center. The drizzly, windy, and cool (low 50s) conditions made it less than ideal birding weather. These conditions seemed to factor in on what was seen from the overlook as a half hour of birding only produced some Hooded Mergansers and Great Egrets instead of the shorebirds I was hoping for. 

With no luck at the visitor center, Molly and I kept our eyes peeled for any bird activity as we drove along the causeway to leave Jekyll Island. Some birds caught our eye conveniently at a designated pull-off area (see map). In this flock of birds were Short-Billed Dowitchers, a long billed bird that probes into the mudflats like a sewing machine. These birds were wintering in the causeway before they fly up to their northern Canada breeding range. Dunlin and several other peeps were running around the mudflats. 

Black-Bellied Plover and several Dunlin

Dunlin (small), Willet (large) and Short-Billed Dowitchers (long beak, medium size) at the mudflat.

Black-Bellied Plover, as viewed through a spotting scope

Black-Bellied Plovers were an easy identification as they stood taller than nearly all the other shorebirds besides a few Willets that were hanging out. Like the Short-Billed Dowitchers and other peeps, these plovers were not in their stunning breeding plumage but instead were in their drab winter plumage. While the Short-Billed Dowitchers fly to northern Canada and do not appear to go beyond southern Alaska, these plovers master migration by flying all the way up towards the islands on the Arctic Ocean to breed. 

Three Black-Bellied Plovers on a mud flat

These plovers are enjoyable to watch in this environment as they go from a sprint to an immediate halt to probe for food. Near one of these Black-Bellied Plovers was a more colorful and much smaller plover: the Semipalmated Plover. This orange legged, brown and white bodied, black striped on the chest, and orange/black beaked plover scurried quickly across the mudflats next to the larger Black-Bellied Plovers to capture some aquatic invertebrates. These little plovers breeding ranges overlap the dowitchers in the southern portion of northern Canada and up to the Arctic Ocean islands where the Black-Bellied Plovers breed.

Black-Bellied Plover, as viewed through a spotting scope

Semipalmated Plover



Semipalmated Plover as viewed through a scope

There were a few other peeps that were unidentifiable to me as a new birder. These peeps were smaller than the nearby Dunlin and one in particular was slightly larger than the one next to it. The larger peep had a browner back, no streaking on chest, which suggested a Western Sandpiper from my field guide review. The other peep was smaller, streaking on chest, and more of a brownish/gray, suggesting a least sandpiper. Unfortunately, the photos were less than helpful in identifying leg color, in which Western Sandpipers have black legs and Least Sandpipers have yellow. Nonetheless, I sent my photos and hunches on what birds they were to the Ebird Reviewer for that area, which is Yve Morrell, an accomplished birder who saw 816 species of birds during her big year in 2017. She was very helpful and confirmed my hypotheses and also provided additional tips on birds in the area. 

Mixed flock of peeps, including a Short-Billed Dowticher (left from middle near grass) and a Western Sandpiper (in front of Short-Billed Dowitcher). 

Several Dunlin feeding next to a Western Sandpiper (right side of the photo; no streaking on chest) and Least Sandpiper (darker, to the right of the Western Sandpiper). 

Black-Bellied Plover (middle) next to various peeps, including some Least Sandpipers. 

After a half-hour viewing the shorebirds along the busy route 520, Molly and I continued on towards our friends’ house near Atlanta, signaling the end of a vacation where an additional 30 species were added to my life list and with my bird count now over 200.

Shorebird Video timeline: 

1st Video: 

0-11 seconds - Willet (large) and Dunlin (small)

12-24 seconds - Semipalmated Plover (orange legs) and Dunlin

25-30 seconds - Dunlin (small), Willet (large), and Short-Billed Dowitchers (medium, long beaks)

2nd Video: 

0-16 seconds - Dunlin (small), Willet (large), and Short-Billed Dowitchers (medium, long beaks)

16-30 seconds: Short-Billed Dowitchers (best view) and many Dunlin

3rd Video: 

0-30 seconds: Black-Bellied Plovers and Dunlin

4th Video:

0-10 seconds: Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-Bellied Plovers

10-25 seconds: Black-Bellied Plovers, Dunlin, and ends with flight away.