By Byrd Brane, guest Wildlife Editor
Xanax Hayes, chairman of the St. John Audubon Spring Bird
Count said, “It’s not believable. It obviously took a wrong turn somewhere.”
The Australian Brown Emu sighting was corroborated by all six members of the
Kerfuffle family who startled the bird resting on the warm hood of a rental
Jeep at Salt Pond. Although Emus have been seen on other islands – especially
at night after bar-closing, this is a first for St. John. While three penguins
were sited last spring at a wedding at Caneel Bay, 97 pelicans and 142 chickens
were more representative of the local counts.
According to birder Susan Chair, each year tens of thousands
of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become
a family tradition among generations. Families, students, birders and
scientists armed with binoculars, bird guides, smartphone apps and checklists
go out on a semi-annual mission - often before dawn. By far the most famous is
the Christmas Bird Count, but the Spring Bird Count is gaining in popularity.
Other rare sightings this spring on St. John included an
Ivory-billed Woodpecker and two Blue Titmice. The Ivory-bill was sitting on a
nest on Waterlemon Cay. Park interpreter Baye Laurel said, “Normally, they nest
in holes in trees. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has offered a reward of
$50,000 to the person who can lead a project biologist to a living Ivory-billed
Woodpecker. So we are all going to search.”
Laurel observed, “The Blue Tits were a surprise. They are
island residents all winter, but by April 1st they are usually replaced by
Roseate Tits.” These two were spotted at Solomon Beach. Because other
scantily-clad creatures are coming out into the sun, camouflage and binoculars
are very useful. Without such equipment, those Blue Tits might never have been
sighted.
Xanax Hayes notes that the access boardwalk built at Francis
Bay by Fiends of the Park volunteers gives another easy place for the
bird-count volunteers to stand and count for something. “Now if they’ll just
cut down all that brush, and maybe put in a nice paved apron bordering the pond
it would be perfect. Oh… and they should probably get a dredge in there. It
looks like it is silting up big time.”
