This is an updated post for the second anniversary of the arrival of the Flamingo at St. Marks NWR.
I was fortunate enough to be the first person to see and photograph a wild American Flamingo at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on October 31, 2018. This was the first verified sighting of a flamingo at the St. Marks Refuge since 1995.
It was by serendipity, that a hurricane, a mountain bike, and a flamingo combined to enable this sighting. By happy coincidence, it was on the anniversary of the establishment of the Refuge (Halloween 1931)!
If you have ever visited this website you know I love the St. Marks Refuge and visit every chance I get. The Refuge is huge and contains areas that are difficult to visit on foot because of the long hike required.
To increase my range I bought a mountain bike (bicycle) which is much sturdier than a road bike. The mountain bike also has larger tires which are more resistant to damage and also less damaging to the trails than narrow road bike tires.
I had not ridden a bicycle in over 20 years, so after I assembled the bike I did a checkout ride on one of the levee trails to refresh my skills and make final adjustments to the bike. The trip went well and I anticipated returning as soon as possible for another biking adventure on the Refuge.
My plans were rudely interrupted by Hurricane Michael which dropped a tree on our house and also forced an almost two week long closure of the Refuge for debris removal and road repairs.
Finally, on Halloween I returned to the Refuge for a bike ride and to photo-document the levee damage.
My bike adventure began at the “Double Dikes” and headed out to Refuge road 128 that separates Stoney Bayou 1 from Stoney Bayou 2.
At the 128 intersection, I stopped to photograph the large amount of vegetative debris on the trail. That was when I noticed a pink bird in Stoney Bayou 1.
(Click this image to see the pink spot.)
Using Don Morrow’s principle of “statistical birding” and applying Occam’s razor, I reasoned the pink bird must be a roseate spoonbill and not a rare flamingo.
The pink color was a bit unusual, and the beak seemed oddly shaped for a spoonbill, so I took a photo with my wide angle camera to enlarge and examine later. Since I was carrying all my equipment in my backpack, I had left my large telephoto behind :-(.
After taking a few more photos, I continued my bike tour and photo-documented more storm damage. (See my previous post for storm damage photos).
Back home the next morning I downloaded my images and enlarged them and could see what had to be a flamingo.
I sent the image to Don Morrow and to the Refuge for verification and the rest, as they say, is history.
Hurricane Michael factors into this story in several ways:
The last time a flamingo was seen at St. Marks NWR was after Hurricane Allison made landfall in 1995 near the St. Marks Refuge. It was believed the hurricane blew the flamingo into the area.
Likewise this sighting of a flamingo occurred after the passage of a hurricane.
Hurricane damage was what brought me to the Refuge on this particular day.
I am not happy about the tremendous damage Hurricane Michael did to St. Marks Refuge and all other affected areas, but the silver lining of this hurricane was this unique, stately, and very pink, rare visitor that gave such great pleasure to so many.
Some people call this magnificent bird “Pinky”. I will not refer to it by that name and always call it either “The Flamingo” or “Big Pink”. (The gender of the bird is unknown)
To see more of the real St. Marks Refuge, it is beneficial to get off the road and use the trails. You will have experiences not available to those exclusively driving up and down Lighthouse Road. With a bicycle you can go further in less time.
Note: due to the Covid-19 pandemic there are currently NO behind the gates tours.
For those with difficulty walking or biking, and for the general public, the Refuge offers excellent guided “Behind the gates” birding and photography wagon-tours.
Please follow the rules and respect the privacy of the wildlife!
Call the refuge at 850-925-6121 for more information or follow the links below
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/st_marks/
https://www.facebook.com/SMSVNWRS