I don’t know how much rain fell on the Refuge on Friday and Saturday, but I found increases when I checked the water gauges yesterday. Several large units like the Main Pool, May’s Point and Tschache Pool went up almost one-half foot and the smaller units showed an increase of a couple inches. But this increase doesn’t explain the common loon that Linda B. found in the Main Pool!! Sorry, no pic. I tried, but by the time I found it, zoomed it in and tried to focus the shot, it would go back underwater. That RASCAL!! I know they prefer deep water and the Main Pool is mostly only about 18 inches deep. So, it looked out of place there. It was pretty far out, but I could see it with my bins. It was fishing. It came up several times with fish in its mouth. Maybe it is easier to catch fish in shallow water compared to deep water? Not sure!
From the Seneca Trail Tower, Linda found a few hundred shorebirds, but nothing like what was there last Friday, probably due to more water and less mud from all the rain. Tschache Pool had lots of black terns and many, many great blue herons and their young. I saw my first of the season, common gallinule chick from the May’s Point Observation Deck. Also, there were two adult American coots with 11 chicks. I have never seen that many chicks with one set of parents before and thought there must be two families. But, Cornell’s “Birds of the World” stated that coots can lay between 8 and 12 eggs per clutch. So, I guess it’s possible to be one family. I couldn’t get a pic that included all 11 chicks because they kept swimming around but I got one with about 9 chicks in it.
I noticed out along I-90 there were some daisies in bloom, one of my absolute favorite flowers. I discovered that they are not native to North America, they came from Europe and Asia. However, according to US Wildflowers.com they have become “naturalized in every state in the US and almost all of Canada.” I don’t see how, but in some states to the west, they are considered a noxious weed.
The forecast is for some rain today and Thursday. Temperatures are supposed to moderate and the weekend could be quite pleasant. Hopefully, you can get out soon to explore the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and the Refuge Wildlife Drive.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
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