Northern Montezuma 8/16/26

Greetings all,

Our group of ten (Steve B., Allyn P., Lori & Steve V., Sue S-V., Holly N., Lyn J., Kevin A., Leslie P., Rich R.) enjoyed a successful morning this past Sunday. We met at the end of Morgan Rd. in Savannah, NY. Looking at the parcel info for Wayne County, it appears that most of the land there, including the places we visited, are owned by NYSDEC. Our highlights of the day were Black-bellied Whistling Duck and nesting Trumpeter Swans. The swans were in Mitigation Marsh. --Lyn Jacobs

1385 Morgan Road, Savannah, New York, US (43.066, -76.72), Wayne, New York, US

Aug 16, 2026 7:41 AM - 8:01 AM

Protocol: Stationary

5 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose  26

Wood Duck  15

Killdeer  1

Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs  5

Least Sandpiper  3

Great Egret  10

Montezuma (NMWMA)--Deep Muck and Mitigation Marsh, Wayne, New York, US

Aug 16, 2026 7:48 AM - 8:11 AM

Protocol: Traveling

0.084 mile(s)

Checklist Comments:     The GPS on my phone lost connection so I did not have an accurate track for this report. I measured the distance that we walked on Caltopo to be 1.2 mi. The duration was 1 hr. 50 min.

28 species (+2 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  1     Continuing. We found it straight out and a bit left from the observation platform. Brown back, black underneath, long neck, light gray on sides of head with dark stripe from crown to nape, pink bill. Prominent white wing bar. After we left the  observation platform, we followed the path to the dike that goes between Deep Muck (DM) and Mitigation Marsh (MM). Having reached the corner, we walked south on the dike to the other side of both ponds. After we had crossed three quarters of the distance of this north-south trail, the Black-bellied Whistling Duck flew suddenly from (DM) right over our heads to (MM). In flight, this duck is easily identified by the contrast of black underwings vs. brownish upper wings with huge white wing bar.                  

Trumpeter Swan  2     Male Trumpeter Swan, ID'd by its distinctive call as it made a loop over both ponds when we were at the Observation Platform on DM. Later we observed it standing guard over a nest occupied by another Trumpeter. The nest was in MM perhaps 30 yards from the dike on the west end.

Wood Duck  5

Blue-winged Teal  1

Mallard  2

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2

Killdeer  3

Least Sandpiper  14

Ring-billed Gull  3

Green Heron  1

Great Blue Heron  18

Osprey  1

Cooper's Hawk  1     Being chased by several crows.

Red-bellied Woodpecker  1

Downy Woodpecker  1

Eastern Wood-Pewee  1

Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher)  1

vireo sp.  1

Blue Jay  1

Tree Swallow  15

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1

Gray Catbird  2

American Robin  13

American Goldfinch  17

Swamp Sparrow  1

Baltimore Oriole  3

Red-winged Blackbird  10

Northern Yellow Warbler  2

Northern Cardinal  1

Indigo Bunting  2

Montezuma NWR--Mays Point Pool and road, Seneca, New York, US

Aug 16, 2026 10:05 AM - 10:30 AM

Protocol: Stationary

10 species

Canada Goose  2

Black-bellied Plover  1

Lesser Yellowlegs  4

Greater Yellowlegs  17

Ring-billed Gull  150

Double-crested Cormorant  3

Osprey  2     Seemed to be harassing a Bald Eagle that was perched. Very vocal.

Bald Eagle  1

Blue Jay  1

Song Sparrow  1