Pat’s Wildways: Equinox Dawns

One recent morning I jumped out of bed early because I had a hunch that dawn over the beach would be perfect that day. And I was right! I rushed to the Simmons Road access, close to my home, and got there as the sky was turning a vivid pre-sunrise display of colors. I could hardly snap enough photos! Other sun worshippers were already at the beach with their cell phone cameras poised to capture the splendor. There were only a handful of people there, but we were all cheerfully inspired by the view. One fellow asked if I knew that Fernandina Beach has the latest beach sunrise along the East Coast. No, I didn’t, and yes, he was just about right. It turns out that due to our latitude and longitude, the sun rises later here than elsewhere along the shoreline from Canada to Miami. Actually, the last sunrise hits a spot on Cumberland Island, but close enough.

After I took what seemed like hundreds of sunrise photos, I wandered over to inspect a marked sea turtle nest. Another beach walker came by and told me that he and his wife live nearby and visit this leatherback turtle nest every morning and evening to see if it is ready to hatch. This long-term Fernandina native was aiming to finally see a clutch of leatherback sea turtles crawl down to the water. Here’s hoping they finally succeeded. I eventually settled on some steps at the beach to further savor this morning, and soon another walker stopped by to chat. Turns out he is a Delta pilot who brings his family every year to a rental house on the beach. We chatted about lightning strikes on planes (which I experienced once) and all sorts of other things. Fascinating.

My beach conversations got me interested again in the timing of sunrises and sunsets, and with the autumn equinox coming soon, I did a bit of research. The equinoxes in both spring and autumn mark the time of year when the days and nights are of equal length. After September 22, the days begin to get shorter. While I was pondering the equinox, I wondered about another phenomenon. The sun now rises and sets directly due east and west. And for Bucko and me, and many others on the island, this presents a problem. Driving east or west on Simmons Road, Atlantic Avenue and Sadler Road presents great difficulties in early morning and evening. The sun beams directly into a driver’s eyes now, with nearly blinding light. That’s another treat of the equinox.

I was well pleased with my sunrise-on-the-beach photos and had another idea. How about I get to the other side of our saltmarsh and look at dawn from that perspective, too? So, another morning I hopped out of bed in the dark and made my way carefully over the bridge and down Nassauville Road. My eyes don’t do well for night driving but I took a chance to get some dawn photos.

And it was worth it! I got to the Holly Point boat ramp just as the sky was turning into vivid shades of orange, red and yellow. Although dawn is when no-see-ums surge, I tolerated this discomfort to snap scores of photos that all look pretty much the same, but I was inspired to keep shooting. Right before the sun rose, a group of grackles flew in to take their spots on the railings. Over across the marsh to Amelia Island I could see a sheet of rain falling and hear clapper rails calling, but as usual these birds were heard and not seen.

Since I was up and around and inspired, I stopped for a walk at the Crane Island Park before heading home for my usual multiple cups of coffee. I walked down the boardwalk heading west and admired the herons and egrets perched here on the railing with the morning light illuminating the marsh. And there in the distance was the rainstorm I had seen from the other side of the salt marsh. Beautiful.

And a wonderful way to start the day! I feel blessed!

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com