St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge is hosting their first bird day on Saturday.

Refuge staff and friends group members will be at the refuge office beginning at 6:30 a.m. to greet visitors and give directions. Guided tours will be leaving at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and other times to meet demand. Refuge staff will be stationed on the refuge until about 10 a.m. helping participants identify birds and answer questions.

Thousands of wading birds and shorebirds are using the refuge. Black-necked stilts, spotted sandpipers, short-billed dowitchers, lesser yellowlegs, as well as wading birds, such as the wood stork, roseate spoonbills, great egrets and ibises are common in the Sibley impoundments.

An informal sunset bird watch will begin at about 7:30 p.m. at the swamp to watch the wading birds come in to their evening roost. For this evening watch, bring your folding chair, binoculars and/or camera, as it promises to be a beautiful sight!

Fall shorebird migration is a spectacular event where large concentrations of birds travel thousands of miles from the nesting grounds in Alaska and Canada to wintering grounds in Central and South America where food is abundant. During this migration, which lasts from August through October, waves of shorebirds stop over at St. Catherine Creek NWR

These particular shorebirds and many others rely on wetland stopover and refueling sites like St. Catherine Creek NWR to rest and forage on the abundant food resources including invertebrates, small crustaceans, and worms, which enable them to replenish their energy reserves in order to continue successful migration. Stopover duration may last for 10 days throughout several sites before shorebirds fly over the Gulf of Mexico and to their wintering destinations.

If you are new to birding or are just curious as to what the fuss is all about, we invite you to join us on Saturday.

Experienced birders will be on hand to help locate and identify birds as well as answer any questions you might have about birding.

So, please join us for a day of fun and learning!

Bob Strader is the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge manager.