Great news: there is a red fox den in the area of the former Oxbow Trail (north of where the Wildlife Drive turns to the left and East of Benning Marsh). However, someone posted this information online over the weekend and ever since there has been huge pressure on the fox family. In an attempt to curb human interference, the staff has blocked the gravel access (by the bench) at that part of the Drive. I’m including a picture I took Monday morning through the passenger window of my car of an adult napping. Definite proof that one does not need to get out of a vehicle and approach the den to get good pics!!
Yesterday, Linda spotted 6 Forster’s terns at Tschache Pool. She first saw them in the area closest to Route 89. Sorry, I didn’t get any pics. If they stick around for a bit, hopefully visitors will be able to see them from the tower!! Also, I saw 2 eaglets in one of our Tschache Pool eagle nests!! Unfortunately, they are in an area that cannot be accessed by visitors. A horned grebe (non-breeding plumage) has been seen frequently very close to the Wildlife Drive south of the Seneca spillway. Sometimes there have been 2 spotted out there. Lately, several Wilson’s snipes have been hanging out in the western, grassy part of Benning Marsh. The tundra swan was still at Benning Marsh. I have noticed in many units that the cattails are pushing up through the water. Spring is marching on!!
I am including pictures of cattail growth in Eaton Marsh; calm, reflective water at the north end of Eaton; a great egret hanging out in the heron rookery, and a few pied-billed grebes in the Main Pool. Much sun and very warm temperatures are forecast for the next several days. Hopefully, you can get out soon to explore the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and the Refuge Wildlife Drive. The Wildlife Drive is only open to cars, no hiking yet. Dogs on a leash are only allowed in and around the Refuge Visitors’ Center and on the Seneca Trail.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
Once again, great photos, Jackie!
Enjoyed your photos, thanks.
I greatly enjoyed your pictures. They are so clear that you can help but enjoy them. We will be heading out this weekend to see as much as we can. Thanks for the updates. We live in ontario so it is a drive and your posts help let us know if it will be worth the drive.
So! What happened to the geese this year? In decades of coming to Montezuma I’ve never seen such a poor showing. I visited the third week of March and saw no snow geese and what few Canada geese were around seemed to be locals preparing to nest. Even the potato (now corn) fields north of the sanctuary were devoid of birds and that is usually a hot spot. Swans were limited to 4, probably trumpeters, in the main pool. My wife and I returned in early April with the same result. I also note your surveys seemed to mirror what I saw–or didn’t see. I usually see tens of thousands of geese in March.
Snow geese often migrate northward through Montezuma and the Finger Lakes Region between early February and late March. However, there is a tool that may help you get a better idea when they are approaching or are in the area. Download eBird, a free app, to your computer or cell phone. You can check on locations or a specific species. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a free online class that you can take to learn how to use eBird!) The snow geese who migrate through our area may have spent the winter in the lower Mississippi, western Gulf of Mexico coast and some Atlantic coastal areas. You should be able to locate and follow larger numbers of snow geese as they move northward using eBird. Many birders have said to me this spring that they thought to snow goose migration was substantially less than other years and I would agree. Maybe that was a result of avian flu. I have no scientific proof of that, just thinking. I have noticed at the Refuge that the numbers of Canada geese also seem lower than usual.
The carp at the outlet on April 12 — what age, why there, and where do they go? Kind of gross in a way, but they’re just another cog in Nature’s giant wheel. Great activity at the GBH rookery AND at the osprey towers!
The carp at the Seneca Spillway are Eurasian or European carp, widely known as common carp. They are normally 18 – 30 inches long and weigh 10 – 15 pounds, but can be much larger. They can live 20 years or more! Here’s the deal about the “carp convention” at the spillway: The Main Pool is shallow and heats up quickly in the spring. The warm, nutrient-rich water which drains into the cold waters of the canal is like a “carp magnet.” It draws the carp to the spillway area for that warm, nutrient-rich water. Think of it as a “carp spa”!! When the canal water temperature gets warmer the carp disperse away from the spillway. However, not only do carp enjoy that warm, nutrient-rich water, bullheads do too!! That’s why you may see people fishing from boats in that area. They have told me they are not fishing for the carp, but for what is under the carp, bullheads!!
Great pictures. Where is the great blue heron rookery? Is it the one by I-90?
The best place to view the great blue heron rookery is from the Tschache Pool Tower.