We didn’t encounter a large number of birds yesterday, but we saw some COOL stuff!! Pete counted over 100 mallards in the southern part of the Main Pool from the Seneca Trail Tower. Some of them are starting to look scruffy and washed out as they enter their eclipse plumage stage. Pretty soon most of them will look like female ducks except for the color of their bills. Females have orange/black bills and males will have a greenish-yellow bill instead of a bright yellow bill. Look for it!!
In Benning Marsh we found a little pile of ducklings huddled together napping. I’m pretty sure there were three and they were mallard ducklings. I’m not too good at identifying ducklings unless they are near their mother. There was a pair of mallards somewhat close by but I didn’t get the impression the female was the mom to these little ones. So, chime in and correct me if I have incorrectly identified these guys.
Tschache Pool continues to have many, many great blue herons both adult and young and a few dozen black terns. If you have the Merlin bird app on your phone, it is great fun to put it on to record the birds in the area from the tower. The other day I picked up 9 different species from there. Try it!!
I am happy to report that the coot family at May’s Point is still intact with all 11 chicks!! Woohoo!! From the east end of Van Dyne Spoor Road in the Sandhill Crane Unit we found a pair of pied-billed grebes trying to feed 7 chicks! Those two adults were extremely busy! I am including a pic of part of the family. The kids were swimming all around, so I could only get 4 of them in the pic.
On the Wildlife Drive out along I-90 we found some beautiful birdsfoot trefoil. It was really pretty so I took a picture and did some investigating. It is not native to North America; it comes from Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Apparently, it was introduced here, as well as in Australia and South America, as forage for livestock. It is also used for erosion control and is helpful for bees and other pollinators. It is considered invasive in many states, but not New York, according to invasive.org.
The forecast is for magnificent weather this weekend, so hopefully you can get out to explore the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and Wildlife Drive. Remember, the MNWR Wildlife Drive is now open to hikers and cyclists as well as cars. Dogs on a leash are only allowed in and around the Visitors’ Center and on the Seneca Trail.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
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