Syracuse.com - It's prime time to go birding at Montezuma (includes video)

[HuntingNY-News]

Wednesday’s free outing, the second the Audubon Center has offered this year, started off at the Knox Marcellus Marsh, moved to the Tschache Pool, and ended at a location to the north off the refuge at the state-owned Muckrace Flats, a flooded wetlands area. Watch video

It was a sunny, calm morning Wednesday with a couple hundred Canada geese and northern pintail ducks milling peacefully about on the Knox Marcellus Marsh at the northern end of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

Within minutes, the quiet was disturbed as some 10,000 snow geese descending on the marsh, creating a white island several hundred yards long.

Nearby, a solitary immature bald eagle soared above the marsh on a thermal. When it got close to the snow geese, they instantly took flight and honked, swirling and swarming around the swamp before settling down on another spot on the water. With the bright morning light shimmering off their white bodies, it was a spectacular sight.

"Man, thanks for taking us out here," said an excited Loren Miller, of Auburn. "I didn’t know this place existed. I’ve never seen snow geese before."

The "man" Miller was referring to was Chris Lajewski, education manager at the Montezuma Audubon Center in Savannah. Miller and his wife, Beth, were part of a 20-person contingent of bird enthusiasts participating in the Audubon Center’s Montezuma Birding Van Tour, which was led by Lajewski.

Wednesday’s free outing, the second the Audubon Center has offered this year, started off at the Knox Marcellus Marsh, moved to the Tschache Pool, and ended at a location to the north off the refuge at the state-owned Muckrace Flats, a flooded wetlands area.

"Spring is here and life is returning to Montezuma," Lajewski said. "We’ve already had thousands and thousands of duck, geese and swans coming back from the south through here. They’re resting, refueling and getting their energy back so they can continue their journey northward .¤.¤. in some cases, way up to the Arctic."

He explained that Montezuma is on the Atlantic flyway and is a popular stop each fall and spring for the migrating water fowl.

"It’s no exaggeration, millions of birds use Montezuma during the course of the year," he said. "There’s no other place in the Northeast where you’ll see something like this. This is it."

One woman asked if the birds were migrating due to the unseasonably warm winter.

"Yes, many are here early," he said. "The killdeers are back a good two to three weeks early. The grackles, the snow geese have been trickling through. The sandhill cranes never even left Montezuma this winter. That’s very unusual."

Over at Tschache Pool, some of the birders climbed atop the four-story bird observation tour with their binoculars, cameras and spotting scopes. Others stayed on the group. Either way, there was a lot to see.

Highlights included more Canada geese and pintails, along with dozens of American wigeons, a pair of trumpet swans and a pair of mature, adult bald eagles sitting in the distance on a dead tree, lording over the pool.

"Look there, it’s an American coot," said Lajewski, pointing to a small black bird that was swimming in the water just off to the left of the observation tower. The fowl kept swimming a little, and then diving out of sight.

"People think of them as ducks, but they’re closer to a chicken," he said.

Before moving to the final spot, the birders were treated to three immature bald eagles fighting in the air over a fish that one held in its talons — and that eventually was dropped. In addition, a dark brownish mink, which appeared to be about 2½ feet long, was spotted swimming along the shore.

The trip ended with a brief stop at the state-owned property, where more Canada geese, northern pintails and a turkey vulture were spotted.

Alan Schenck and Beth Nicholas, of Geneva, said they have bird feeders, but this was their first time at the refuge and its surrounding land, which covers about 50,000 acres.

"It’s so great to see God’s beauty out here, and it’s so close to home," Schenck said. "We take it for granted. It’s so gorgeous."

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog