As Alyssa said, at 9am today (15 March) the Snow Geese were relatively few in number and located in the west corner of the flooded mucklands opposite the intersection of 31 & 89 (where there is enough shoulder to park several cars alongside the road). I was told that earlier in the morning there were a lot more Snow Geese over a much wider area, but that hunters had dispersed them. Before I left, I saw a guy with a gun, a canoe, and a loud dog on one of the strips of land to the north between the flooded fields. I returned at 11am, when the hunters were gone, and so were the geese from the west corner, but clouds of Snow Geese were forming farther east over the flooded mucklands north of 31, the first few touching down about 11:10am. The flooded field they chose was mainly in Seneca County, considerably east of the large pull off where the “Potatoes” building used to be, with a strip of vegetation blocking the view from there. (There are very few places a car can be pulled off the road near this flooded field, but I found and used one, pulling off so my car would not interfere with traffic.) The Snow Geese continued to swirl down, accumulating many thousands, until about 1:55pm all the Snow Geese took flight - I don’t know why - and resettled mainly northwest of the main pull-off, mostly in Wayne County. More were still arriving when I left about 2:30. But it was not til later that the Greater White-fronted Goose and the Tundra Bean-Goose were found among them. Oh, well. The problem with rare birds is that by definition there is a huge number of birds which are not the rare bird. At least Snow Geese are fun to watch if I’m not trying to pick out a Ross’s Goose, and I wrote down the codes for 8 different collars on them, which I will report at www.reportband.gov
Regarding traffic on 31, it is true that there are some tractor-trailers, and that many drivers break the speed limit here as they do everywhere. However, it is not a limited access highway, so it is legal to be a pedestrian along the side of the road. The paved shoulder outside of the white lines, which is too narrow for parking a car, is supposed to be for pedestrians, Drivers can see a person on that shoulder a long way off, and drivers should not cross that white line. I parked in one of the gaps in the guardrail, not where my car would interfere with traffic or block that shoulder, but I walked on the paved shoulder, which is legal. Whether anyone else thinks that’s safe is their own judgement call, but if you as a pedestrian on that paved shoulder get hit by a driver, and you are in no shape to tell the police what happened, and the driver blames you, and the police decline to ticket, even though drivers legally must always try not to hit pedestrians, I think your heirs may have a good chance of success suing. Another non-bird note: although the bathrooms in the Visitor Center building are not available when it is closed, the bathrooms are available in the separate building near the Viewing Tower and the start of the Wildlife Drive and the Seneca Trail. Back to birds & birding: today the lower eastern part of Carncross Road between the marsh and the flooded field was blocked off with a sign saying it was closed due to flooding. There were lots of ducks in the flooded field. At Martens Tract there was still some deep snow/slush on part of the driveway to the parking lot, but it may have melted since this morning. The fields nearby hosted 2 pairs of Sandhill Cranes who were mostly quiet but occasionally very noisy - a joyous surprise to me. - - Dave Nutter Begin forwarded message: > From: "Johnson, Alyssa" <[email protected]> > Date: March 15, 2022 at 12:56:44 PM EDT > To: Undisclosed recipients:; > Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma updates > Reply-To: "Johnson, Alyssa" <[email protected]> > > 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, Upstate NY Bird > Watchers, Birds of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and the Eaton > Birding Society. The official partner Facebook pages are: Montezuma Audubon > Center, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and Friends of the Montezuma > Wetlands Complex. > > > 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! > Pronouns: She, Her, Hers > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
