BirdingWeek: Here come the waterbirds...

The farm field at the north end of Wright's Loop in Stillwater frequently floods during heavy rains. It offers good habitat for wading birds, and shorebirds during migration. After the recent deluge of rain throughout June, the field was completely inundated, but the level is coming down now, and may be attractive to passing birds.

North end of Wright's Loop in Stillwater (click to enlarge)

The water level of the Mohawk River has come down over the last few weeks as well. When the gauge reading falls below ten feet, the rocky flats begin to be exposed, providing shorebird habitat, and resting areas for gulls and others.

Cohoes Flats, from Clark Ave. access (click to enlarge)

Spillway at Cohoes Flats (click to enlarge)

Occasionally, uncommon gulls, terns and other waterbirds that wander, or use the corridor to migrate, can be found around the flats.

Caspian Tern, Cohoes Flats (click to enlarge)

One of the premier migration stopover spots for waterbirds in the Northeastern United States is the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, located at the northern end of Cayuga Lake, between Syracuse and Rochester. Here is a link to a checklist of birds seen there, and their frequency of occurrence.

Montezuma NWR and other wetlands surrounding it make up the greater Montezuma Wetlands Complex. One of the finest wetlands is the Knox-Marsellus Marsh along East Rd. just north of the refuge.

(click to enlarge)

On the morning we arrived at the marsh, the diversity and especially the quantity of birds present was quite extraordinary, nothing that one would ever see in the Capital Region. Many dozens of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, half a dozen species of duck, more than a hundred Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, hundreds of smaller sandpipers and "peeps", gulls, Caspian and Black Terns, and two Sandhill Cranes. The downside is the distance from the observing location to the water, which is over 300 yards away and well below the observer.

Knox-Marsellus Marsh viewing area (click to enlarge)

Towpath Rd., at the southern end of of the marsh, offers a different angle to view the wetlands, closer to ground level, and attracts a few shorebirds on exposed mudflats.

Knox-Marsellus Marsh from Towpath Rd. (click to enlarge)

Puddler's Marsh, immediately east of K-M Marsh (click to enlarge)

Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets at K-M Marsh (click to enlarge)

The water level at the May's Point Pool was relatively high, and there were scattered Great Blue Herons, American Coots, Common Gallinules, and Pied-billed Grebes.

platform at the May's Point Pool (click to enlarge)

May's Point Pool (click to enlarge)

An interesting pair of visitors recently arrived in a remnant flooded woodland near the May's Point Pool- two adult Red-headed Woodpeckers!

Dead snags with many woodpecker holes (click to enlarge)

Red-headed Woodpecker peering out of the bottom hole (click to enlarge)

At the Tschache Pool there were two Common Terns present, flying about gracefully and occasionally twisting and turning in mid-air.

view from the observation tower at Tschache Pool (click to enlarge)

At the refuge Visitor Center, there is a healthy colony of Purple Martins right next to the parking lot. Almost all the "apartments" were occupied, and there was much coming and going and gurgling chatter.

Purple Martin colony at Montezuma NWR Visitor Center (click to enlarge)

Visitor Center (click to enlarge)

The Main Pool at the refuge was drained this season in order to grow vegetation to assist hungry migrating waterfowl and others. There are still some smaller pools of rainwater around. We had an immature Sora pop out of the grass very close to our vehicle, offering splendid views.

Main Pool (?) at Montezuma NWR (click to enlarge)

Main Pool at Montezuma NWR (click to enlarge)

Bindweed along the roadside (click to enlarge)

There is a large impoundment at the end of Van Dyne Spoor Rd. near Savannah that held many waterbird families. There were numerous Common Gallinules, American Coots, Soras, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Least and American Bittern, and Pied-billed Grebes.