The Montezuma Muckrace was a great success. In fairness, we must give huge credit to Mother Nature who gave us one of the best weather days and nights for our birding extravaganza!! Muckrace Madness was in full swing on Friday night at 7PM as birders set out on their quest to find birds. Around 7:30, we were gifted the most spectacular full moon. It stayed with us all night and set around 6:30 AM on Saturday morning. By 7PM on Saturday, weary teams had returned to the MAC to turn in their lists, enjoyed pizza then shared stories of their 24-hour birding experiences!! FANTASTIC!! A huge THANK YOU goes out to the volunteers who donated time at the MAC to assist Muckracers Friday evening and all day on Saturday!!
Yesterday, we struggled with rain and poor visibility all morning but conditions improved in the afternoon. Shorebirds were in the Visitors’ Center Wetland and the Main Pool. Be aware that they shift around some due to peregrine falcons stopping by for lunch. There were a few great egrets in the Main Pool and there were many seen from Tschache Pool Tower. The Main Pool continued to have a good variety of ducks. Some of the male mallards and wood ducks were beginning to display brighter, more colorful plumage. YAY!! The sandhill crane family was still hanging around. We also saw three other cranes fly in way out in the tall cattails, but they were too distant and poor visibility made it impossible to tell if all three of them were adults.
In many places along the Wildlife Drive and in some units we saw patches of pink, some of them were fairly large. The “sea of pink” is smartweed. Our biologist said it is wonderful duck food!! I’m including two pictures, but they don’t do it justice. I guess, you will have to check it out for yourself, it is worth it!! I am also including a picture of a great blue heron standing on one of the stumps in an area along the interstate, an adult bald eagle and a first-year bald eagle.
My app predicts great weather conditions for the next few days. Hopefully you can get out to explore the trails, towers and Wildlife Drive on the Wetlands Complex.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
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