Good afternoon, Wow it’s been a wild couple of days! We went from relatively low numbers of waterfowl and lots of ice and snow on Saturday to LOTS of birds and a lot more open water.
“Route 31 Muck”: this is the hot spot. These flooded ag fields are privately owned, but the birds do not care. Estimated 600,000+ Snow Geese (and they keep piling in), 3000 swans (90/10 Tundra/Trumpeter), Canadas of course, and thousands of ducks dominated by Northern Pintail currently. There are several gravel pull offs to get off the road safely. You will get some great views from this spot. Armitage Road, Savannah: Don’t be fooled by the Snow Goose decoy spread on the south side of the road! The Western half of the road is flooded ag fields and there are quite a few swans, ducks, gulls, etc. here. I picked out some Ring-necked Ducks among others there this morning. Also there is a nearby Bald Eagle nest, so keep your eyes open for the adults. Sandhill Cranes also favor the drier fields to the east sometimes. I have yet to see any here, but they could arrive at any time. Sandhill Cranes are being seen elsewhere: we’ve had them at the MAC, I just saw some along Morgan Road (Savannah), and from Carncross as well. Don’t delay in visiting! They won’t stick around forever- and no, I don’t know when they are leaving 😊 Check us out on Facebook, I post updates there too. Most recent post has a map in the comments of how to find the muck flats: https://fb.watch/bEQ124K350/ -- Alyssa Johnson Environmental Educator 315.365.3588 Montezuma Audubon Center PO Box 187 2295 State Route 89 Savannah, NY 13146 Click here to see upcoming programs and events!<https://ny.audubon.org/montezuma-programs-and-events> Pronouns: She, Her, Hers -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --