As it turns out, I've not only landed in a place that's beautiful and amazing and full of cool wildlife, but I'm also lucky enough to have met people here who love nature and are willing to go on adventures with me!
During Labor Day weekend, I got to visit Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge -- a swampy area at the north end of Cayuga Lake that's especially important for migratory birds -- with one of my new colleagues and his wife who happen to be very experienced local birders. Montezuma was wonderful, with plentiful habitat for shorebirds and other water-loving creatures, and with my companions' help I was able to pick out new-to-me birds like Pectoral Sandpipers and Stilt Sandpipers from among the flocks of other similar-looking species milling around the fields and ponds. (The real test will be whether I can identify those birds again on my own later! We'll see!)
A Ruddy Turnstone was drawing a small crowd of admirers as it foraged near the road (apparently these birds are relatively infrequent passers-by in this area):
A Greater Yellowlegs was foraging nearby, looking positively lanky next to the primarily smaller shorebirds in the area:
We saw quite a few juvenile Common Gallinules on the water:
And I couldn't resist this image of a preening Great Egret with a Double-crested Cormorant drying its wings in the background:
A pair of Sandhill Cranes apparently nests every summer at Montezuma, and I so wanted to see these birds (if they hadn't yet left for the year). I have practically no experience with cranes, which makes them almost mythical creatures as far as I'm concerned. Well, we were driving by some fields near the refuge, and then there were four tall gray/brown figures moving through the grass, like deer but not:
The parents are the gray birds with red masks, and the juveniles are the browner ones with plain faces. And now I know that baby cranes are called "colts," and it is the most wonderful thing:
The Sandhill Cranes were a highlight, but the whole trip to Montezuma NWR was awesome. It's a bit of a drive to get to this place from Ithaca, but I'm sure I'll be back to experience Montezuma in its various seasons!
Then last Sunday, I went on a walk with a small group of colleagues at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve, a Finger Lakes Land Trust preserve just south of Ithaca. We were absolutely the only people in this place the whole time we were there. We walked in woods, around ponds, and through the most perfect, rolling, goldenrod-filled fields, and it was wonderful:
Beavers had flooded an area of these woods in recent years, leaving a big swampy stand of dead trees:
We saw a bunch of Wood Ducks swimming among the skeletal trunks and brush, but they stayed well away from my camera's reach.
I have missed Red Efts a whole lot in my year away from the east, and I was so happy to find them here in these rain-dampened woods. We counted 11 of these wonderful creatures just along the path; how many more were out wandering through other areas of the forest?
A fancy Scalloped Sallow moth (Eucirroedia pampina) sat in what looked like a headstand on a milkweed leaf:
I started feeling a hint of Fall during that walk (!), and I'm happily anticipating the cool, crisp weather and wonderful Fall sights to come. I'll close with my phone's view of the goldenrod fields at Lindsay-Parsons, all blue sky and yellow flowers and a ribbon of green (soon to be orange/red/yellow!) trees:
In a now-annual Christmas tradition (five years running!), I took a trip with Paul's dad on Tuesday out to the Brigantine division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge while we were visiting family in New Jersey for the holidays. With an eight-mile wildlife drive through coastal wetlands, this is a pretty special place, and there are always lots of interesting birds hanging around. Some of the coolest creatures are the Snow Geese that come down from their arctic breeding grounds to overwinter here in huge numbers:
We estimated the Snow Geese on Tuesday numbered somewhere in the thousands. They made quite a sight blanketing the marsh as they foraged, and they were striking in flight as well, with those black-tipped wings:
Most of the Snow Geese wore pristine white costumes:
But there were a few blue morph individuals as well; I think these birds are particularly handsome:
Here's a (very) brief video of some of the Snow Geese foraging; the sound should give an idea of how crowded the area was with these birds:
Lots of other cool birds made an appearance during our visit as well. This gorgeous Great Blue Heron was hunting near the road:
A Greater Yellowlegs (such an appropriate name!) brightened up the shoreline:
And there were ducks all over the place. We saw big American Black Ducks that flashed the iridescent patches in their wings as they bathed:
Buffleheads that dipped in and out of the water, pursuing their meals:
Ruddy Ducks with their funny round bodies and big beaks:
Flashy Hooded Mergansers:
And a single female Common Goldeneye, looking quite pretty in her simple costume:
It was great to get out to the shore and see so many creatures. What an awesome place!
Between migrating birds and increasingly active residents, the beach certainly is an interesting place to watch spring take hold! Here are a few sightings from my visit to Silver Sands State Park yesterday morning.
Several male Red-winged Blackbird were busy staking claims in the marsh, and I guess the boardwalk is part of this fancy fellow's territory:
Sing it, Mr. Blackbird!
A Greater Yellowlegs graciously posed for a few pictures:
Those legs are quite striking!
I was pretty tickled to find that the stretch of boardwalk that was rebuilt last summer is now a roosting and courting (and possibly nesting) spot for Rock Pigeons. It was a little strange to hear cooing sounds coming from beneath my feet!
And there's a rabbit again! I'm surprised at how bold these creatures have gotten at this park; this rabbit was even near a path where people and dogs frequently walk:
All in all, a lovely beach day.
Today was my day to monitor for Piping Plovers and other shorebirds at Silver Sands State Park, so I spent my morning wandering on the beach. No plovers showed up, but as always, there were plenty of other things to see.
There was this Greater Yellowlegs, for instance, a funky shorebird that I'd never seen before:
And this cute little Savannah Sparrow foraging in the grass:
I learned recently that the Savannah Sparrow is a state-listed species in Connecticut (it's of "special concern"), so I was glad to see this little guy hopping around. Plus, how about that cool yellow eyeshadow?
Speaking of yellow, I watched this male American Goldfinch singing boldly from a tree near one of the paths:
I thought this guy was pretty bright, but he paled (literally) in comparison to one of his fellows in the tree next door:
Not every bird I encountered had yellow on it, of course (although I was doing pretty well there, wasn't I). A Downy Woodpecker was drilling into some dried reeds in the marsh (not where I'd expect to see a woodpecker!), and producing a weird clacking sound as the stems knocked together:
I wonder what tasty morsels she was finding in there.
A few male Red-winged Blackbirds made it quite clear that the park's boardwalk is part of their territory:
These birds are extremely active now, with the males flying around everywhere, calling and flashing their brilliant red shoulder patches. And the boardwalk's posts do make a great place to show off.
OK, OK, we get the message!
It wasn't just birds who were active, either. I think it must have been rush hour for the colony of Fiddler Crabs below the boardwalk -- the crabs were wandering all over the mud, picking up food, and stealing each others burrows. (Usually when I see these little creatures, they're basically just sitting there.) Several male crabs were squaring off in pairs, for what looked like brief but intense contests of who-has-the-bigger-claw:
(I just noticed that the two male crabs in this picture have their large claws on opposing sides. I wonder why some crabs might have a large left claw, and others a large right one....)
There's always something interesting going on at the beach!
