FYI: masks are required in the Visitors’ Center due to the high COVID rate in Seneca County.
WOW!! We had an amazing weather day yesterday!! Warm, with lots of sun and no mosquitoes!! We surveyed most of the units but had relatively low numbers. I think most ducks have migrated through and our females are in the cattails and trees (wood ducks and hooded mergansers) incubating eggs. I don’t want to start any rumors, but I want to believe that the male gadwall, redheads and ring-necked ducks are hanging around because there are females incubating nearby. Keep your eyes open for ducklings soon!! Last year we saw our first ducklings (mallards) on May 18.
Shorebirds continue to straggle in. We saw yellowlegs, killdeer, dunlin, least, spotted and solitary sandpipers. There has been an impressive flock of dunlin hanging out in the Visitors’ Center Wetland for several days.
There were 5 glossy ibises in the pools near the eagle sculpture. And, in their typical fashion, they flew frequently. Sometimes they are out in the open and other times they are in the vegetation. Be patient and keep looking!!
Three snow geese continue to be seen in the grassland area across the Wildlife Drive from Eaton Marsh. Black terns are often found over the Main Pool, Tschache Pool, May’s Point Pool and the Sandhill Crane Unit. Take a minute and become familiar with their distinctive, squeaky call. I usually hear them first which alerts me to their presence. There was a single sandhill crane on the east edge of Seneca Flats. One has been reported in Seneca Flats and Larue’s Lagoon quite a bit recently. I want to think there is a nest nearby, but I haven’t found one yet. I will try to be patient and will definitely keep looking!
The pictures are of a glossy ibis partially obscured by vegetation in the Main Pool near the eagle sculpture, a sleeping redhead duck in Benning Marsh, and an eaglet in the nest that can barely be seen at the end of Van Dyne Spoor Road.
The weather is predicted to be awesome for the next couple of days so I hope you can get out to explore the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and Wildlife Drive.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
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