Good morning all, I’ve been away from Montezuma since last Friday, so I haven’t been able to keep up personally with where the Snow Geese and other waterfowl have been hanging out over the weekend. I did a quick drive around to some of the hot spots, and I’ll detail my observations below:
-“Route 31 Muck”: this is where all the action has been the last week! REMINDER: This is private land. The little pull off areas are on private land. Please be respectful if you visit, and stay in the pull off area, do not go walking out into the fields even if there is a “road”. I’ve seen people doing this to get better pictures, but it isn’t necessary as the birds have been pretty cooperative. Also, this is considered trespassing. Also, please do not stop on Route 31/walk along the road, especially where there are guard rails! This is a 55mph zone, and tractor trailers and other large vehicles travel this route, and will not be able to stop or swerve if there are cars along the side of the road (or even IN the road stopped). There was an estimated 600,000+ Snow Geese on these flooded fields last week. Sunday 3/6 weather brought them in in droves. It was very mild and there was a strong SW wind that they took advantage of. As we know, this past weekend’s weather was quite the opposite (I ❤ NY). I drove through the flats this morning around 9 am, and there were much fewer geese, and most were on the western edge of the fields. It was still a sizeable group of thousands, but maybe not even 10,000. I don’t know yet if the bulk of the birds have already passed through, and are continuing north, or if they were just all split up in maybe down on Cayuga Lake, or in various ag fields. I would expect we’ll figure that out in the next day or so if they do or do not return in the masses to the muck flats. There were also Tundras, Canadas, and a some ducks here and there. A Tundra Bean-Goose was sighted here last week amongst all the Snow Geese. This is considered a mega rarity, as their native range is in Europe and Asia The other thing that is happening, is that many of the marshes are opening up and the ice is melting. So some of these birds may be spread out amongst wetlands rather than consolidated to just the muck flats. -Knox Marsellus Marsh on East Road: The marsh is about half covered with ice, and I didn’t see any significant here, but I didn’t spend a lot of time either. -Montezuma NWR: The wildlife drive and visitor center are not open (no restrooms either) until April 1. You are still allowed to visit the visitor center and bird from there, as the pool in front can be good birding. The entrance is off of Route 5/20 in Seneca Falls. -Van Dyne Spoor Rd, Savannah: I haven’t been down here yet, because the roads have been a mess. If you have a more rugged vehicle, you could attempt driving down. It does turn into a seasonal road, and with all the snow and freezing/thawing, I don’t know what condition it is in. Probably pretty muddy and many potholes. The wetlands along the end of the road though could be good birding and there could be Sandhill Cranes and other waterfowl hiding down there. -Morgan Road, Savannah: This is a dead end, and ends at the DEC field office. Feel free to park here. You are able to walk out on the berms on state land, so feel free to do that. There are no public facilities here, FYI. This had some good birding on Friday! We saw about 10 Bald Eagles of varying ages hanging out along the river. The marshes there are probably thawing out, and when they do there will be ducks, swans, etc coming to use them. Sandhill Cranes continue to be seen along Morgan Road. A particular spot I look for cranes is a short walk. Park in the parking area, and you’ll see the barns. Between the huge red barn and the pond, there is an access road. Don’t drive it, but walk down there and you’ll see a little “parking” area/circle. This is a good vantage point, and I’ve been seeing cranes tucked back into an agriculture field from here. It’s hard to explain, but if you walk out to this spot (it’s like 1/8 mi if not less) take a look and listen, and you may find them. But also the cranes are being seeing in the ag fields along the road itself before you get to the end. -Montezuma Audubon Center: We are open Tues-Sat, 10 am – 4 pm. See the address in my signature below. Feel free to stop in and pick up a map for $1 and we can point you in the right direction. We are seeing cranes here as well, although it is hit or miss. Other birds of interest: Killdeer have returned! I hear them calling and courting. Song Sparrows are singing, as well as Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Northern Cardinals, etc. I personally am waiting to hear Eastern Meadowlarks and Spring Peepers- THEN it will feel like truly spring for me! The honking geese, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Common Grackles are definitely the kick-off, and they’ve been around for weeks now. Unfortunately I can not provide daily updates individually. The volume of calls, emails, Facebook messages, etc. we get are far too many for me to respond to individually. I try to update on various list servs and keep our Facebook page updated frequently. If you stop in to our center on the day you’re visiting, that would be the best way to get the most recent information directly from us. Otherwise, check out eBird to see what folks are seeing. Here are some local Facebook groups as well that you may find beneficial (keep in mind that none of these groups are officially affiliated with the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, or any of the partners (NYSDEC, Montezuma NWR, or Montezuma Audubon): Cayuga Bird Club<https://www.facebook.com/groups/423723264332161>, Upstate NY Bird Watchers<https://www.facebook.com/groups/895651323830371>, Birds of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge<https://www.facebook.com/groups/172217523476266>, and the Eaton Birding Society<https://www.facebook.com/groups/169785479785608>. The official partner Facebook pages are: Montezuma Audubon Center<https://www.facebook.com/MontezumaAudubonCenter>, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge<https://www.facebook.com/MontezumaNWR>, and Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex<https://www.facebook.com/FriendsoftheMWC>. Good luck! -- 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/ --
