Today 26 Rochester Birding association members joined up with 32
birders that had signed up at the refuge for our joint field trip allowing
access to the dike between Knox-marcellus and Puddler's marshes.(Yes, that's
58 people). The visitor center plowed field has some water in it now and
drew a few pectoral sandpipers and yellowlegs but little else. Off to East
Road where accessing the dikes gave us hope of finding close viewing of
shorebirds. That went out the window as after a mile walk in the hot sun,
only 15 Pectoral Sandpipers and 5 Greater Yellowlegs were on the flats. The
7 strutting Sandhill Cranes on puddler's quickly made up for that and things
got even better when 6 more flew in from the north and 2 more joined them on
knox-marcellus to give us 15 total. 7 Cackling Geese, part of a group found
by others, flew across with everyone getting a chance to separate their
calls from the many Canada Geese. 2 Black-crowned Night Herons flying out
early from their roost trees were a nice sight.
Back to the Visitor's center area for lunch our numbers had dwindled
to a manageable group. The best birds there were the 2 Solitary Sandpipers
at the start of the wildlife drive, the 2 Trumpeter swans on the main pool
and a Blue-headed Vireo only seen by 2 observers. The main pool was loaded
with No.Pintails and Green-winged Teal as we made our way to the shorebird
flats along the wildlife drive. There we were rewarded by close looks at a
nice variety of shorebirds highlighted by 3 Long-billed Dowitchers plus 1
White-rumped and 1 Stilt Sandpiper. 3 Dunlin reminded us of what the date
really is. Keen eyes picked out 2 American Bitterns; one of which was
probably no more than 10 yards away the whole time we were there until it
decided to be seen. 2 Snipe were the next secretive birds to be picked out
of the reeds with some hard work by one of the leaders.
On to Tschache Pool where the highlight was the Trumpeter Swan
family. We could see 7 of the 9 family members from our vantage point. Here
was the formal end of the trip and you can read the e-bird checklists below.
69 species were tallied (more than 1 per person :)).
A small group of us said what the heck and decided to check
Knox-marcellus one more time from East Road hoping for some Black-bellied
plovers that were seen earlier in the morning. We were greeted by large
flocks of mostly Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs and
over there; 12 Black-bellied and 2 Golden Plovers. 5 Black-crowned Night
Herons came out of hiding to tell us that it was too late and we had too
little energy left to use our access privileges to get close to all those
shorebirds. Where were those 550 birds the first time we were down there!
2 hot air balloons rose to our south to end a beautiful day with a
lot of new faces; everyone happy to share scopes and point out birds of
interest to those eager to learn.
Thanks to the refuge personnel for allowing us access to the dikes
even if the birds didn't all co-operate. Mike and Joann Tetlow
Montezuma NWR--Visitor Center area, Seneca, US-NY Sep 27, 2014 11:00 AM -
12:00 PM
Canada Goose 300
Mallard 5
Northern Pintail 2
Green-winged Teal 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Osprey 1
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 1
Killdeer 15
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 5
Ring-billed Gull 25
Blue Jay 5
European Starling 20
American Pipit 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Montezuma NWR--Knox-Marsellus and Puddler Marshes, Seneca, US-NY Sep 27,
2014 12:10 PM - 2:00 PM
Cackling Goose 7 calling flock
Canada Goose 950
American Black Duck 3
Mallard 20
Hooded Merganser 1
Common Merganser 1
Double-crested Cormorant 50
Great Blue Heron 30
Great Egret 14 No bands
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Sandhill Crane 15 7 at Puddler's. 6 Flew in from the north and joined 2
already at knox for a total of 15
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Pectoral Sandpiper 15
Ring-billed Gull 40
Herring Gull 2
American Kestrel 1
American Crow 4
Barn Swallow 1
European Starling 12
American Pipit 15
Common Yellowthroat 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird 5
American Goldfinch 3
Montezuma NWR--Visitor Center area, Seneca, US-NY Sep 27, 2014 2:10 PM -
3:00 PM
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Black-capped Chickadee 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 20
White-throated Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 1
Montezuma NWR--Wildlife Drive, Seneca, US-NY Sep 27, 2014 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Trumpeter Swan 2
Wood Duck 12
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 20
American Black Duck 8
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 9
Northern Shoveler 1
Northern Pintail 300 Probably at least another 100 out there among the
reeds
