We surveyed Knox-Marsellus, Puddler and the Wildlife Drive units yesterday. Everything we saw at Knox could be seen from the East Road Overlook with a scope and much could be seen with bins. The Visitors’ Center Wetland can be easily seen from the entrance road and the VC deck. Much of what we saw on the Main Pool was from the Seneca Trail Tower. Visitors have access to the tower on the Seneca Trail through December 12. It will be closed from 12/13 – 12/21. It will reopen on 12/22 and be closed again on 12/26 – 1/1/22.
I was able to get some photos of a small flock of ruddy ducks in the Main Pool. As I was checking them out to see if there was anything clear enough to share, I learned something cool about ruddies. An adult male ruddy duck is in nonbreeding plumage from September to March! They are in breeding plumage from March to August! Compare that to a mallard male who is in nonbreeding plumage from June to September and in breeding plumage from October to May (according to Sibley Birds, 2nd edition). So, I checked the species that are frequently seen at the Refuge. Most of them are in nonbreeding plumage from April, May, June or July to September, October, November or December. This puts them in breeding plumage anywhere from September – December to April – July. This is what many of us are familiar with at Montezuma and in the Finger Lakes region. Back to the ruddy ducks, it was cool to learn that they have a totally different molting schedule. After studying the photos, it appears that this flock could be mainly juvenile ruddy ducks. In the photos where I could see the sides of the faces, the line across the cheek seemed faint and kind of disappearing, more resembling Sibley’s picture of a juvenile and not the adults. Please feel free to chime in here if you need to set me straight! My feelings won’t be hurt, I would like to be accurate. The other pic I am including is a rough-legged hawk that we saw hunting over the Main Pool. It eventually captured some kind of rodent and settled on a muskrat lodge for lunch.
I checked with the DEC and water levels have gone down so there is now vehicle access to Howland Island via Carncross Road. Currently, it is a great place for hunting making it a poor place for hiking and dog walking.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
Hi, Jackie & Sar …..
Snow today has finally brought feeder birds in decent numbers. Had a rare male RWBB this a.m. & 2 cowbirds among others. Noticeably missing have been the massive Canada flights overhead going to & from the lake here in Union Springs. Becky has seen a few snow geese. Lake is basically bare here, which I attribute to the continuing high water level.
Sorry I’ve not been out & able to see you this yr.. Wish I could go to Seneca Falls to see Sar playing his important angel role in “It’s a Wonderful Life” this coming weekend. People have their homes nicely decorated so be sure to drive through after dark.
Have a wonderful holiday season & great, birdy new year. Thank you for all you do to make visits to MNWR memorable occasions. Fritzie