Good afternoon fellow birding community! The birding in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex is heating up, just in time to be cooled down by the week's end snow storm that's predicted.
Just now I am watching 15 TURKEY VULTURES in a kettle to the east of the Montezuma Audubon Center. I saw my FOY TUVUs this morning driving into work, and then was happy to see them again just now. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, and AMERICAN CROWS are also in abundance here in the woods and fields immediately surrounding the MAC. The crows are gregarious, the bluebirds are signing up a storms, and the black birds have overrun the feeders. The SNOW GEESE and CANADA GEESE have been streaming into the "31 muck flats" since last week. 10's of thousands can be seen there, along with mixed ducks including NORTHERN PINTAIL, NORTHERN SHOVELOR, MALLARD, AMERICAN WIGEON, etc. I've also gotten reports today from visitors stopping into the MAC of TRUMPETER SWANS over on Howland's Island near the Carncross Rd parking lot access. Knox Marcellus Marsh on East Road (Montezuma NWR land) is teeming with waterfowl- be sure to bring binocs or a scope as they're quite a distance off, but you'll get a great panoramic view from up high. Colvin Marsh and the empty ag fields just south of the MAC on 89 have hundreds of gulls (Larus sp.) feeding in the puddles and shallow water. The BALD EAGLE pair continues to hang out on the osprey nest just east of the MAC. The nest is up on top of an ATT cell tower, and we've learned that it's very uncommon for eagles to nest on man-made structures, they usually prefer nesting in a tree. We hope that they in fact are a breeding pair and we will be seeing eaglets poking above the top of the nest in the next couple of months. We regularly see 3 adults (we think 2 F and 1 M) around the tower, perched or soaring. Good birding here! The National Wildlife Refuge visitor center/wildlife drive is still closed for about ~6ish weeks, but come visit us at the Montezuma Audubon Center to bird, hike our trails, use the restroom, and get tips for finding birds in our area. Enjoy the rest of this unseasonable day, and stay warm while winter returns. Alyssa Johnson Environmental Educator Montezuma Audubon Center 2295 State Route 89 P.O. Box 187 Savannah, New York 13146 (315) 365-3588 Audubon NY- Montezuma<http://ny.audubon.org/Montezuma> Montezuma Audubon Center on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MontezumaAudubonCenter/> -- 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/ --
