The Native Plant Festival and Sale seemed to be a HUGE success with lots of visitors. The Visitors’ Center was filled with folks for the four presentations and many wandered through the vendor area throughout the day. We will sift through the feedback and hopefully determine it should be an annual event. I hope to post one of the presenter’s PowerPoints on the Friends website soon. (I have to learn how to do it!) I will also share the presenters’ contact/business information in a separate post.
We had a lovely weather day yesterday with some sun, a bit of a breeze and pleasant temperatures. As you can see from the list our Canada goose numbers are increasing. I have seen flocks of geese in and around the Refuge as well as at my home (Ontario County) and in the areas and skies in between. The coots are gathering in larger flocks and there are still many pied-billed grebes in the Main Pool. Our numbers of gulls, especially ring-billed, are increasing lately. There are a few more herring gulls too but the Caspian terns seem to have left us for parts south. According to Sibley Guide to Birds 2nd Edition many go to Florida and the Gulf Coast for the winter.
I got the greatest surprise while we were watching the sandhill crane family in Eaton Marsh. Along came a northern harrier, quite close to the Drive, that flushed a Wilson’s snipe that flew right past my truck window then turned and flew back and across the Wildlife Drive in front of us!! HOLY COW!! I haven’t seen a snipe since last spring! Such a wonderful chance sighting!!
Pic #1: adult bald eagle Main Pool, #2: adult bald eagle Main Pool, #3: adult bald eagle Main Pool, #4: adult bald eagle May’s Point Obs Deck, #5: immature peregrine falcon Knox-Marsellus Marsh, #6: adult black crowned night heron Puddler Marsh, #7: great blue heron Puddler Marsh, #8: New England aster and goldenrod Wildlife Drive (both native plants) , #9: spider web with morning dew Knox-Marsellus Marsh.
For those of you who love our bald eagles, on Monday morning when I did a quick survey before I opened the Visitors’ Center, I saw 6 adult bald eagles. Some of the pictures are included here. Monday was rainy with poor visibility so I didn’t get good pics of all the birds. But there were two different birds in trees across the Seneca-Cayuga Canal, there was 1 in the “spillway tree”, 1 on a stump in an area just before the eagle sculpture, 1 seen from the May’s Point Observation Deck and 1 seen from the Tschache Pool Tower.
Hopefully, you can get out soon to explore and experience all the amazing things at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex trails, towers and the Refuge Wildlife Drive.
ENJOY, be respectful and safe.
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