Syracuse.com - Montezuma Muckrace: Birding at its best with a competitive edge

HuntingNY-News · September 7, 2013

"There. A black-billed cuckoo just flew into that area with the tent caterpillar nests. I can see its tail," said one competitor.

Jim Norwalk pointed toward the top of several locust trees on a wooded path near the Montezuma Audubon Center in Savannah.

"There. A black-billed cuckoo just flew into that area with the tent caterpillar nests," he said. "I can see its tail."

A little further down the trail, Chuck Gibson spotted a ruby-throated hummingbird perched on a branch about 10 yards off the path.

"Good eye," Norwalk said.

<div id="asset-13367582" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13367582-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="yellow (1).jpg" />A common yellow throat spotted on the grounds of the Montezuma Audubon Center.Jonathan Kresege photo </div>

Norwalk and Gibson, along with friends, David Schneider , and Steve Benedict, are members of the Bobolinks, one of 27 teams competing in the 17th annual Montezuma Muckrace at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. The 24-hour competitive birding competition began at 7 p.m. Friday and ends at 7 p.m. today.

The event is a fund-raiser put on by the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Audubon New York and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Money raised by the competition will go toward improving habitat or bird-watching opportunities in the area.

The teams are entered in under several categories (competitive, recreational, low carbon, family and Youth). The goal is to see or hear as many bird species as possible during the contest. Last year's winner, Gallinagos, sponsored by the Cayuga Bird Club, logged 134 species.

The event was made possible by more than 25 sponsors. Money was also raised through pledges sought by participants. Prizes are awarded to the team that raises the most money and to those teams that record the highest number of species.

The competition is limited to the 242-square-mile Montezuma Wetlands Complex, which is also referred to as the Montezuma Focus Area. It includes federal, state and Nature Conservancy-owned lands, with the largest tract being the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

<div id="asset-13367599" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_left"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13367599-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="2013-9-7-montezuma3.jpg" />Trumpeter swans spotted in a pond at the Montezuma Audubon Center.Jonathan Kresege photo </div>

The Bobolinks, competing in the recreational division, started their tally Friday evening. Gibson and Benedict got out for a couple of hours on land near the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. They counted 18 different birds.

"We were hoping to see a black-crowned night heron, but we never saw it," Gibson said. "We may get one, though, before today is over."

The full Bobolink team assembled at 7 a.m. this morning at the Montezuma Audubon Center, walking through the wooded area, and afterward alongside two ponds and a large field. They talked quietly along the way, but often stopped to look and listen - constantly pointing their binoculars and spotting scopes where they saw movement or felt a bird might be.

Along the wooded path, they passed Team Sittidae (a species of nuthatch) comprised of Anita Messina, of Port Byron; Jackie Bakker, of Stanley and Linda Potter, of Skaneateles. The three women were competing in the Lo Carbon division.

<div id="asset-13367610" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13367610-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="2013-9-7-montezuma4.jpg" />Anita Messina, of Port Byron, and Jackie Bakker, of Stanley, members of Team Sittidae, check out the birds at the Montezuma Audubon Center.David Figura | [email protected] </div>

"We don't drive anywhere," said Messina. "We're just walking around."

In one of the ponds, Parker spotted a green heron.

"Nice," Schneider said.

Soon after, a pair of trumpeter swans flew in and landed on the water.

Benedict then spotted a small marsh hen. Other birds noted by the team on the ponds included lesser yellowlegs, a pied-billed grebe, semipalmated sandpipers, semipalmated plovers and a snipe.

Gibson trained his spotting scope on a dead tree several hundred yards away. "I just got a northern flicker," he said. "You can't miss it with the white patch on his rump."

<div id="asset-13367617" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13367617-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="2013-9-7-montezuma1.jpg" />Chuck Gibson cups his hands around his ears to check out a bird he just heard.David Figura | [email protected] </div>

From there, the Bobolinks hopped in Norwalk's SUV and drove toward Howland's Island, stopping at several spots along the way - including in front of a house in a residential area in Savannah with a well-used bird feeder. There, they saw a house finch, a goldfinch, a nuthatch, a downy woodpecker and a mourning dove.

They were rewarded at Howland's Island, adding to list such birds as a kestrel, purple martin, cedar waxwing and a magnolia warbler.

"This is a good place to look for warblers," Norwalk said. "There's plenty lots of old deciduous trees and and wetlands with lots of bugs."

<div id="asset-13367690" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13367690-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="2103-9-7-montezuma5.jpg" />A black-capped chickadee seen on the grounds of the Montezuma Audubon Center. Jonathan Kresege photo </div>

The highlight of the morning was the sighting of an olive-sided flycatcher.

"That will probably be our best one all day," Gibson noted, showing his teammates a close-up, frontal look of the bird on his spotting scope.

The Bobolinks shared their find with the Mad- Capped Chicadees, a three-woman team who happened to be nearby. The ladies, who described themselves as "The DEC Girls," were Bonnie Parker, of Manlius; Jenny Landry of Livonia and Kathy Kirsch, of Canandaigua.

The ladies said their highlight was not the seeing, but the hearing of a great horned owl.

"We heard it in the woods getting mobbed by a bunch of other birds," said Parker, noting her team was in the competitive division.

This year's contest was a bit more comfortable for the participants. The reason, Gibson said, was there was seemed to be less bugs.

<div id="asset-13367644" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13367644-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="2013-9-7-montezumatrophy.jpg" />The winning team in the competitive division wins this trophy/plaque, which must be returned for next year's competition.David Figura | [email protected] </div>

"The cold snap may have chilled the mosquitos," he said. "I few years back they'd get you as soon as you got out of the car."

The teams have until 7 p.m. to submit their lists at the Montezuma Audubon Center, where competitors will grab a bite to eat and enjoy recapping highlights of the day. The winning team in the competitive division will win a trophy/plaque and the first opportunity to pick from a table of prizes supplied by sponsors.

TEAM NAMES

There's 115 birder competing in this year's Montezuma Muckrace. Part of the fun of competing is the camaraderie and all the funny team names:

This year's teams include: The Bleary-eyed Vireos, Bobolinks, Buffleheads, County Crows, Fuddy Ruddies, Lookin4Hooters, LoonAtics, Mad-Capped Chicadees, Mottled Mucks, Mucky Ducks, No rEgrets, Stork Raven Mad, Team Geneseedeaters, Mommazuma & Malerds, Team Sittidae, Terradoma, The Decarbonated Swamp-Warblers, The Lime Howlers, The Plucky Mucksters, The Shutterbirds, The Tanagers, Tyrannus Tyrannus, Craniacs, What The Flock!, Wing Birders, Winging It, Woodscocks and Volunteers at the MAC

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog