Normally it would take much longer for the Main Pool to draw down, but we have had so little rain. Refuge staff have diverted water into the Main Pool area in hopes to provide adequate habitat for the end of the shorebird migration.

The lack of rain has also caused the Visitors’ Center Wetland and Benning Marsh to dry up faster than usual. One picture I am including this time is of the herons and egrets in the small pool of water remaining in Benning Marsh. I didn’t get a picture, but Linda B found two Wilson’s phalaropes in the southern end of the Visitors’ Center Wetland.

Even though conditions are getting really dry, there are still great things to see at the Refuge!

There is still a larger than normal number of bald eagles in the Main Pool area. Some can be seen from the Seneca Trail Tower, others from the Wildlife Drive and some often in flight over the Main Pool. I could only see one eaglet in the Maple Island nest but due to poor light conditions could not get a good picture of it. The spillway nest was empty, so it appears that both eaglets have fledged!!

We found the “Montezuma Pre-School” for geese, that probably should now be called an elementary school, in the channel north of the spillway and south of the photo blind parking. It is amazing to see how quickly these babies grow!

We didn’t see any duckling broods during this survey but keep a look out on Larue’s Lagoon, Seneca Flats, Eaton Marsh, the pools along I-90 and May’s Point for them.

Here’s hoping you can get out and enjoy a safe and fun-filled holiday weekend,
Jackie 🙂