SUCCESS!! The Refuge staff has completed the necessary repairs to the spillway water control structure, YAY!  Special kudos go out to the three bio-techs, Cassidy, Daria and Fran, who braved extremely difficult conditions to literally get to the bottom of the problem and get it fixed.  Apparently as the water drained from the Main Pool, it brought a whole lot of dead carp and carp parts.  I heard the stench was ATROCIOUS and the gloppy, decaying stuff made work VERY difficult.  I was thinking I should have called Mike Rowe, from the “Dirty Jobs” TV show.  However, with hard work and determination they prevailed.  Many, many thanks to the three techs, our biologist, Linda and manager, Bill on getting this done. However, a word of caution is necessary, they can’t flip a switch and miraculously fill the Main Pool overnight or in a couple of days.  We need to be patient, the Main Pool has over 750 acres to fill!  So, keep your fingers crossed, if all goes according to plan, we will have sufficient water for the bulk of the upcoming fall waterfowl migration!!  I’m including before and after pics of the water control structure. Enjoy the pictures, but do not venture down into the marsh to see for yourself. Thank you.

We did not find many shorebirds yesterday.  I was hopeful that we might have a bunch after Monday afternoon’s rains. But that was not the case. And a peregrine falcon went zooming through while we were surveying the Main Pool and some birds skedaddled.  I did find 6 large plovers out in a stubbly area south the spillway.  They were too distant and I am too inexperienced to identify these guys who, of course, were not in breeding plumage. I am pretty sure that the stormy weather pushed some birds out but we will have some more stopping by to use Montezuma as a bed and breakfast on their southward migration. Also, there are some species that have not come through yet, like dunlin.

On Monday morning I found a single male ring-necked duck Seneca Flats.  Also, on Monday morning as I got out of my car on the side of South May’s Point Road, I looked up to discover a white-tailed deer about 50 feet further down the road, checking me out!  Yesterday, as we made our way along the southern Sandhill Crane Unit dike we flushed a fairly large bird out of the trees.  I finally got it in my scope and realized that it was not a hawk, but a great horned owl!!  I have seen very few during the day in my lifetime.  TOTALLY COOL!!   As the bright yellow of the goldenrod fades, we have the amazing yellow flowers of the bidens, pink of the smartweed and purple of the New England asters.  There are still some pickerel weed and swamp rose-mallow blossoms to be seen.  I am also including  pictures of the swamp rose-mallow seed pods, sandhill cranes in flight over Knox-Marsellus Marsh and two northern harriers who were foraging and performing graceful aerial displays near Knox-Marsellus Marsh.

Hopefully, you can get out soon to explore the REALLY COOL stuff at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and the Refuge Wildlife Drive.  Dogs on a leash are only allowed in and around the Refuge Visitors’ Center and on the Seneca Trail.

ENJOY, be respectful and safe.