We experienced blustery, frigid conditions this morning as we surveyed the Visitors’ Center and Main Pool. Brrrrrrrrr!!! Around 8:30 there were loads of ducks and Canada Geese close to the Wildlife Drive. Shortly thereafter, the Spillway adult eagles were back at it, swooping around the Main Pool in the vicinity of the Seneca Spillway. That scattered the waterfowl. Some flew right out of the area and others moved away from the Drive out towards the protection of the cattails. It was interesting to watch a flock of American Coots push together and make a tight group in the water. “Safety in numbers!!”
Last Saturday, one of our Roving Naturalists, Pete Saracino, confirmed two adult Bald Eagles at the new Spillway nest at the same time there were two adult Bald Eagles at the Maple Island nest!! It’s official, the new nest is number 6 for the Refuge! Way to go, Pete! Today, both sets of adults were again in their respective areas of the Main Pool.
The Visitor’s Center Pool had mostly Northern Shovelers. Three hours after we completed our survey there 11 Sandhill Cranes showed up and were still there when I left the Refuge around 4 PM. There was a large group of cranes (43) at the Sandhill Crane Unit. They were best seen from nearly all the way to the East end of Van Dyne Spoor Road. Even though we did not officially survey Knox-Marsellus Marsh, I stopped at the East Road Overlook on my way back to the Refuge. There were 36 Sandhill Cranes, hundreds of Canada Geese, dozens of swans, 1 Great Blue Heron and about 20 Dunlin.
We surveyed Benning Marsh for the first time in two months. Due to the lack of rain, the unit dried up and there have been no birds. With the recent rainfall, today there was a fair number of Green-winged Teal, Canada Geese, Mallards and Nothern Pintails.
Around 9:00 this morning we saw 10 Snow Buntings on the Wildlife Drive in the vicinity of Seneca Flats!!
The wild, windy, really cold weather is predicted to moderate mid-week. There should be some great, comfortable viewing in a couple of days as waterfowl continue to migrate through Montezuma!
Stay safe and enjoy!
Jackie 🙂
My wife and I parked at the visitor centre in early December, and walked up the auto road toward the main pool. a man in an inflatable boat was paddling the main pool, and yelling at us that we were not allowed on the road. he had his truck parked there, and so we assumed he was a wildlife official of some kind… Was he? Is the auto road closed for walking? He was pretty cranky!
Haven’t seen a bird count in a while..
Does anyone actually read these? Serious question.
Yes, however many of these questions should be directed to the refuge directly rather than to the Friends of Montezuma group.
Please checkout the regulations for the Wildlife Drive.
https://friendsofmontezuma.org/summertime-bike-hike-path-is-open/