Birding - Owasco Flats Nature Reserve

Arrived at the kiosk at 8:00 AM. There were two cars in the parking lot, but no people.

 

Across from the parking lot on Rte. 38.

Shortly thereafter Dave from Virgil arrived. Then Noelle and Nancy came off the trail. Then seven others arrived.

Noelle, the leader, and Bruce, an OFNR officer, gave a short introduction to the reserve.

We stepped off around 8:45 AM. From the parking lot, the trail followed an old railroad bed before winding towards Owasco Creek which we followed until we reached the southern end of Owasco Lake.  The trail then proceeded along a gravel road and circled back onto the railroad bed and returned us to the parking lot. The loop trail is approximately the 1.0 mile in length. 

Old Railroad Bed

Owasco Creek

It turned out to be a pleasant morning, however, the trail was quite muddy. Thank Good for Mucks.

There is a great mix of habitats to bird along the way (forested wetland, open marsh, the lake and upland forest).

Bruce pointed out a Shagbark Hickory tree.

Shagbark Hickory

(carya ovata)

The forested wetlands were teeming with skunk cabbage.

We saw or heard 32 species in all. The highlight was a lone calling Virginia rail along the north side of the gravel road.

The list of birds seen:

American robin
White-breasted nuthatch
Wood duck
Red-winged blackbird
Black-capped chickadee
Blue jay
Downy woodpecker
Mallard
Great blue heron
Canada goose

 On the nest

Tufted titmouse
Hairy woodpecker
European starling
Song sparrow
Tree swallow
Common grackle
Bufflehead
Scaup spp.
Redhead
Osprey
Double-crested cormorant
Eastern pheobe
Northern cardinal
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull

The list of birds heard:

Red-bellied woodpecker
American crow
American goldfinch
Northern flicker
Pileated woodpecker
Chipping sparrow
Virginia rail

The non-bird species observed or heard were painted turtles, spring peepers, northern leopard frog and several dead mudpuppies were found along the bank of the creek (presumably stranded from receding flood waters).

Mudpuppy rescued by Noelle

Our bird walk ended about 11:30 AM.

Another great day for birding.