At first glance it may look like there is not much happening at MNWR right now. There are not huge numbers of birds using the Main Pool and other units. However, there truly is much to see and hear. Yesterday there were dozens of black terns foraging over the Main Pool!! They make a very distinctive squeaky call and have a very distinctive flight pattern.  They also can often be seen and heard at Tschache Pool, May’s Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus Marsh and the Sandhill Crane Unit (Van Dyne Spoor Road). From the May’s Point Observation Deck, we had 11 species, a higher number than recent weeks.  You can still see the bald eagle nest looking left from the deck.  I haven’t seen chicks in that nest yet, RATS!!  But, the adults act like they are tending young when I see them at the nest. The Visitors’ Center Wetland had 6 species of ducks, 4 species of shorebirds and 30 Caspian terns. I’m including a picture of a greater yellowlegs that was in the VC Wetland near the entrance driveway. From the VC Deck, you can listen to the bubbly chortles of the purple martins and the raspy, gravelly calls of the Caspian terns!! On Monday morning, I saw a black-crowned night heron wrestling with a bullhead very close to the tower. Yesterday, I found a nest in Larue’s Lagoon that I believe belongs to a red-winged blackbird. It is pretty easy to find if you are looking for it suspended in some dead vegetation fairly close to the Drive.  Keep an eye on it to see “who” flies into or out of it.

 I’m including 2 pictures of a Canada goose family at May’s Point.  In the first one, the family was seemingly unfazed by our presence on the observation deck.  Then, in the second pic, the parents were leading their brood away from us. I think they were hoping that we wouldn’t notice them! On Monday morning in the Main Pool out along the interstate, I found 2 totally cute pied-billed grebes.  Silly me, I thought they were “in love” and I was seeing some cool courtship behaviors.  However, I noticed that they seemed to be looking up often and their movements seemed to coincide with the squeaky calls of some black terns which were overhead.  Even though I think that black terns are not a threat to pied-billed grebes, maybe the grebes were exercising an abundance of caution, were positioning their bodies defensively and were keeping a close eye on the terns. On Sunday morning, I saw an adult bald eagle struggling with a large fish in Benning Marsh. It made a cumbersome flight with the fish up to a tree just east of the unit and continued to struggle with it there. It appeared to be eating it so I prepared to move on along the Drive. The next thing I know it was back in the water with the fish!! I am posting a series of pictures of the eagle and the fish.  I have a video of it that I hope to get posted to the website soon.

  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. Currently, the Refuge Wildlife Drive is only open for vehicles, no hiking or biking yet. The Wildlife Drive opens for hiking and biking on May 25, 2023.  Dogs on a leash are only allowed in and around the Visitors’ Center and on the Seneca Trail. Dogs on a leash are not allowed walking on the Wildlife Drive or Esker Brook Trails, ever.

ENJOY, be respectful and safe.