On Tuesday we encountered rain, cloudy skies and few birds in the Main Pool, as to be expected. But in the muddy areas near the spillway were some mallards, gulls, and some shorebirds. There were semipalmated plovers, semipalmated sandpipers, killdeer and spotted sandpipers.
We didn’t see the sandhill crane family yesterday, but I saw them last Tuesday, 6/1. The chick, which is getting bigger, was still with the parents. I only saw the chick for about 2 seconds as it passed through a small opening in the vegetation as it followed its parents. They were on the east side of Seneca Flats, toward the south end. I’ve included a picture of one of the adults in the cattails.
A wildlife biologist friend graciously corrected my ignorance of the large group of Canada goose goslings. I have learned that those large groups of young waterfowl are referred to as nursery broods.
“While not super common, are a well documented occurrence in many species of waterfowl. I saw a photo of a common merganser adult female with 52 ( yes, 52!!!) young strung out behind her!!!! As to why it occurs, I really don’t know. I would hazard a guess that maybe the females for some of the young are first-time breeders and they didn’t do a good job of preventing their young from wandering off with another brood. Or another explanation could be that the other adult females are nearby and are still keeping an “eye-out” for the welfare of their own young in the larger “nursery brood”. There is also the possibility that something happened to one or more of the female geese and the young escaped and joined with the next adult and brood that came along. Really kind of a guessing game.”
Many thanks to Tracy for giving me much needed guidance and information!!
I am pretty sure that one of the Maple Island eaglets has fledged. Weather conditions made visibility poor and I could only see one in the nest. They are really getting too big to hide so I think it is safe to say one has fledged.
I also included a picture of a huge snapping turtle that was crossing the Wildlife Drive. Her shell was the size of a large dinner plate.
We also surveyed along Van Dyne Spoor Road at the Sandhill Crane Unit. The water level is really low due to lack of rain, not a drawdown. However, we did find over 80 mallards, some Canada geese, great blue herons, a blue-winged teal, 2 black terns and small numbers of other birds. There was one adult bald eagle perched in a tree along the Seneca River.
The weather is predicted to moderate and be less humid in the coming days. I hope you can get out and enjoy the Refuge!
Jackie 🙂
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