Birds amassing along Shiloh Marsh Road

Egret feeding area

     At this time of year, we often come across larger than normal concentrations of migratory birds at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  While Great egrets and Snowy egrets are fairly abundant throughout the winter months at this site, during middle to late March and early April, we find larger than normal aggregations of the birds concentrating in small pools and impoundments.  I often refer to these birds as "staging", but admittedly, I am probably using the term too broadly.  Most ornithologists refer to Staging areas  as those where thousands or even tens of thousands of birds gather in areas of great food resources for birds migrating thousands of miles.  An alternate term "stop-overs" may be more appropriate for the groups of birds Sharon and I are seeing at this time of year.  One example of such a phenomenon was seen several days ago as we drove along the Shiloh Marsh Drive area of Merritt Island.  In the same pools where we were seeing several egrets among other waders and shorebirds in the past months, we saw dozens gathered together feeding in the shallow bodies of water.

Long-billed dowitchers

     While this is truly not an overabundance of birds, it is more than are normally seen together. Over the years we have seen this type of mass gathering of many species at this time of year.  In addition to these egrets, we found greater than normal numbers of species such as Long-billed dowitchers and Lesser yellowlegs.  White pelicans were not in overwhelming numbers today, but we have seen such impressive gatherings at this time of year in the past.  There are hundreds to perhaps thousands of white pelicans found in Merritt Island NWR during the winter months, so whether this is a "stop-over" of birds migrating from points south or simply an assembling of birds getting ready to begin their journey north I couldn't say.  Whichever it is, it is very impressive as seen in this shot I took several years ago.

Wilson's snipe and Lesser yellowlegs

     Among other birds seen today along Shiloh Marsh Road we found several snipe feeding along with the large numbers of Lesser yellowlegs.  A bit of territorial sparring occurred as each bird felt that this little patch of rich feeding ground was his or her own and didn't want to share.  At this time of year in Shiloh Marsh, it does appear that there are plenty of fish, worms, and crustaceans to go around!  It will surely be a joy to keep watch over this wonderful area of Florida as the season of migration further unfolds.