Yesterday was a nearly cloudless, exceptionally comfortable, First Day of Summer!! Happy Solstice to all!! Holy Cow, that means our days will be getting gradually shorter now. The good news is that it won’t feel like it for a while.
The Main Pool had our usual, unusual male ducks except, we didn’t see the lesser scaup. However, someone saw it later in the morning. But, we did see a male bufflehead out there with our wonky flock. In one of the pools along I-90 we found the mama redhead and her one duckling. We found one of the bald eagle eaglets in a tree a good distance from the nest. We looked, but couldn’t find the second one. Our babies have fledged! I’m beginning to feel “empty nest” syndrome, I got so used to seeing them frequently. We may see them occasionally, as they will probably hang around for a time while they learn how to fend for themselves. The parents will assist them in this process.
Native pickerelweed is blossoming in Seneca Flats!! Those flowers are absolutely gorgeous!! Common milkweed is beginning to blossom in many areas on the Refuge (and my garden)!! If you get a chance to get up close, they give off an exquisite fragrance!! Check them out at the Visitors’ Center and along the Seneca Trail. Swamp milkweed is starting to form blossoms. They are also seen along the Seneca Trail and the Wildlife Drive.
When we got over to Tschache Pool Tower, we found a couple of dozen great egrets in the west end of the heron rookery. In other locations, not at MNWR, these two species will share a rookery. We keep hoping it will happen here. Also, from the tower, we found a flock of mostly male mallards. It was cool to see them in various stages of eclipse plumage. Eclipse, defined by britannica.com, means the “dull, female-like plumage worn by the male for a month or more in summer after breeding. It “eclipses” his usual bright plumage. He soon molts and is flightless until he grows new wing feathers.” I have found that I can tell males from females in the summer by looking at their bills. Males are a dull, olive/yellow and females are black/brown and orange.
Over on East Road we found an osprey with a fish on the top of a telephone pole. We slowed down and I was able to get some pictures. He was not concerned about us. He was busy eating. Check out his talons!! Back at the Visitors’ Center we noticed that the PUMAs (purple martins) have hatched!!
This week’s sound challenge may not be much of an actual challenge, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. In Merlin, explore birds, type in Red-winged blackbird. The first choice is what I hear all over the Refuge and at home. But also check out the 6th and 10th calls since there is a variety that they use.
Hopefully, you can get out soon to explore and experience all the amazing things at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and the Refuge Wildlife Drive.
Pic #1: fledgling bald eagle near Benning Marsh, #2: native pickerelweed in Seneca Flats, #3: common milkweed, #4: swamp milkweed, #5: common milkweed with honeybees, #6: great egrets in rookery from Tschache Pool Tower, #7: mallards from Tschache Pool Tower in various stages of eclipse, #8: osprey on East Road, #9: newly hatched purple martins (PUMA) on TV screen in VC, #10: wood duck ducklings in Seneca Flats (061823).
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
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