This is the second year that the management of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge is allowing a limited number of birding field trips onto dikes around Knox-Marsellus and Puddler Marshes, where the refuge otherwise prohibits public access. These are the scheduled trips and leaders of which I am aware:
Sunday 27 July, 8am, Dave Nutter of Cayuga Bird Club Sunday 17 August, 8am, Eaton Birding Society Saturday 23 August, 11am, Mike Tetlow of Rochester Birding Association Sunday 31 August, 8am, Dave Nutter of Cayuga Bird Club Sunday 21 September, 830am, Paul Anderson of Cayuga Bird Club Saturday 27 September, 11am, Mike Tetlow of Rochester Birding Association The trips are hosted by members of various bird clubs, but all the trips are open to all birders, whether or not they are members of any bird club, and there is no fee. However everyone should pre-register with the Refuge staff by calling 315-568-5987. All field trips will meet at the given time at the Refuge Visitor Center on NY-5/US-20 then caravan to the site. This includes a .8 mile drive on a single lane dirt road with deep puddles, so consider car-pooling to reduce wear on the road and the number of muddy cars. After that we will be walking on the dikes. Be prepared for dewy vegetation and biting insects. Bring binoculars and, if you have one, a spotting scope as well. Even though we will be closer to the birds than the usual roadside viewpoints allow, the impoundments are huge, and many birds will still be distant enough that a scope will make a big difference for identification and enjoyment. Another great thing about a scope is that one can aim it at a distant bird, then let someone else have a look at that same bird, so please be willing to share views and ID skills, especially with folks who don't have a scope. Maintaining inland habitat for migrating shorebirds is a challenge which Montezuma NWR has taken on successfully for a number of years. As a result this is a great place for birds and a great opportunity for us. The southbound migration is already well underway for shorebirds which nested in boreal and tundra regions far to our north and west. Already in addition to the Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers which nest here, there have been Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Pectoral, Stilt, Least, and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Sanderling, and Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers. Some of these have been few or transient, and others numerous or growing in numbers. We expect several additional species of shorebirds to pass through or join the throng for awhile as the season progresses. Shorebirds will be our focus, yet we expect and welcome distraction by multiple species of gulls, terns, raptors, ducks in challenging eclipse plumage, herons, assorted other waterbirds such as cormorants, grebes, and rails, plus swallows, sparrows, icterids, warblers, and other songbirds along the way. That said, there are no guarantees as to what birds will be present and cooperative. You just have to be there to find out. Montezuma NWR is in the Seneca County Town of Tyre in the marsh lands north of Cayuga Lake. The Visitor Center is at 3395 E Auburn Rd (US-20), Seneca Falls, NY (42.967, -78.741). Directions from Ithaca on the east side of Cayuga Lake: Go north on East Shore Drive / NYS-34 for 5.6 miles to the traffic light and T at Rogues Harbor Inn. Turn left/west to go "north" on Ridge Road / NYS-34B for 11.8 miles to the all-way stop in King Ferry. Turn left/west to go "north" on NYS-90 for 23.8 miles to the traffic light (note gas station & convenience store). Turn left/west on NYS-5/US-20 for .4 miles. Turn right/north at entrance to Montezuma NWR and go .3 miles. Visitor Center and parking lot on left, separate bathroom building on short path to north. Directions from Ithaca on the west side of Cayuga Lake: Go north on NYS-89 for 41.5 miles to the traffic light Turn right/east on NYS-5/US-20 and go 1.6 miles Turn left/north at entrance to Montezuma NWR and go .3 miles Visitor Center and parking lot on left, separate bathroom building on short path to north. --Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
