In case it didn't go through....I sent this two days ago. On Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 2:21 PM David Nicosia <daven102...@gmail.com> wrote:
> This coming Saturday morning, 25 August, there will be another shorebird > walk into normally restricted areas at the Montezuma National Wildlife > Refuge. > > At 7am we will caravan from the Montezuma NWR Visitor Center to the East > Rd overlook. Folks can meet us at the East Road overlook at 715 am if they > want. > > Directions: > The Montezuma NWR Visitor Center address is 3395 U.S. Route 20 East, > Seneca Falls, a road also known as NY-5/US-20 or simply “5 & 20”. The > refuge entrance is between intersections with NY-90 and with NY-89 and > located just west of the bridge over the Seneca River which forms the > border between the Cayuga County Town of Montezuma in and the Seneca County > Town of Tyre. > From that driveway: > > Turn right/west on NY-5/US-20, and go 1.6 miles to the traffic light, > Turn right/north on NY-89, and go 3.9 miles, > Just after crossing the big bridge over the Clyde River and Erie Canal, > turn right/east onto North Mays Point Rd, and go 1/10 mile, > Turn left/north onto unmarked East Rd, and go 7/10 mile to the gravel > parking area for the Knox-Marsellus Marsh overlook. > > Assemble about 7:15am at the parking area overlook on East Rd, joining > people who have gone there directly. > > After a brief introduction & scan of the marsh from the overlook, we will > walk down to the north dike of Knox-Marsellus Marsh, probably continuing to > the northeast dike of Puddler Marsh, and possibly along the dike in between > the two impoundments as well. > > Our primary goal is to observe shorebirds on their southbound migration > who stop here to feed and rest in the shallow water, on the mud, and in the > nearby short vegetation within the impoundments. Other birds and wildlife > are also of interest. > > Bring binoculars and a field guide. If you have a spotting scope, please > bring it. > The trip is open to the public and there is no fee, but I ask that people > participate in these ways: > If you have ID expertise, please share it. > If you have ID questions, please ask them. > If you notice birds or behaviors that other folks seem not to have yet > noticed, please point them out. > Although shorebirds are fairly tolerant of people, other birds may move > away from us, such as herons, ducks, and songbirds. Please try to stay with > the group enough that we can communicate and enable the most people to > observe any birds before or when they flush. > I will be compiling a list of the birds we observe to share with > CayugaBirds-L and refuge staff, so please tell me what you find. > These trips are a great opportunity to learn about shorebirds, and with > luck we will see and compare several species. > > This will be a slow walk with much stopping and standing on grass & weeds > which have been mowed awhile back and also driven upon by refuge vehicles. > Most of it is level, but East Rd is atop a drumlin above the impoundments, > so there is a substantial hill at the beginning and the end of the walk. > The round trip distance is only a couple miles, but we could be out until > noon, although certainly anyone can leave early. Dress for the weather, as > there is no shelter. Bring water & a snack. Insects have not been much of a > problem, but you should probably make some effort to deter ticks and check > for them afterward. > > Thank-you to the refuge staff for maintaining the habitat for shorebirds. > It’s actually not easy to have expanses of mud and shallow fresh water on > demand for several months in a place where vegetation can quickly overgrow > it, or evaporation can dry it out, or rains can flood it. Thanks > particularly to Biologist Linda Ziemba and Visitor Services Manager Andrea > Van Beusichem for arranging these trips to happen. > > Dave Nicosia > > P.S Thanks to Dave Nutter for leading last week and providing such a nice > template email for me to use!! > -- 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/ --
