Spring/Early Summer

Fashion Style Lyla

Adventures in the North Country

Niagara-On-The-Lake Ice Wine Festival Trip

Sledding with the Family

Muckrace '12 Wrap-Up

I'm writing this a week and a few days after the Montezuma Muckrace 2012, and I'm still pretty jazzed up from the whole day.

First some thanks are in order!
1) Thanks to Eric Schmidt and Micron Industries for again sponsoring our team, the Mottled Mucks.  We are proud to carry your name!
2) Thanks to all our donors who very generously gave money in name of our team to support better habitat for the birds and wildlife we see each year in this amazing place we call the Montezuma Complex.  If you forgot to donate, you can up until September 30th at this link (use team Mottled Mucks)
3) Thanks to my teammates, Dick, Dan, and Dom.  15 hours in a car with three other dudes might sound like torture to some, but it was really a joy and a pleasure.  We are a modest lot, but I think we did a great job this year.  We worked hard, but I think we had more fun than usual!

OK, onto some stories and results.

So it is called competitive birding for a reason.  We were trying to see as many species in a 24 hour period as we could.  We say a total of 72 species.  That is four more species than we saw last year!  This is really something I am proud of.  We are NOT one of the top teams, in fact, we are one of the "worst" teams when it comes to numbers (winning team had 135 species), but we keep getting better each year.  Improvement counts in my book!

The weather was not ideal, however, it was much better than forecasted.  We had forecasted 75 mph winds, thunderstorms, and hail.  We got maybe 30 mph winds, no thunderstorms, and a couple hours of rain.  Not bad considering.

Some of the amazing things we got to see in summary....
- a pink sunrise (red skies in the morning, sailors take warning).
- a Kingfisher hunting in a small pond at very close range.
- a Merlin single handedly chasing away a flock of 15 crows (each which were 25% larger than the Merlin).
- a tree full of swallows that we could neatly identify while perched.
- the Clyde-Savannah High School football game (we were trying to find Nighthawks in the lights).
- a horse that sounded just like a Screech Owl.
- Peregrine Falcons hunting shorebirds at break-neck speeds.
- Mosquitos explode with blood when swatted.
- birds of prey perching and drying out after the heavy downpours of rain.
- finding Robins with one hour left in the day (you can't believe how excited four guys can get to see a Robin)

So to sum it all up, we had a blast, and I wish I could do it everyday.  Now if you want the nitty gritty of each species we say, here goes:

Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-taled Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Greather Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Semipalmated Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Reg-billed Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Magnolia Warbler
Vesper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Photo credit to Dick Beery. (He got this Red-tailed Hawk drying out its wings after the rain)

Montezuma Muckrace 2012

John Ballou, Dick Beery, Dan Wood, and Dom DeFazio are team Mottled Mucks and they are participating in the 2012 Montezuma Muckrace! They are going to be finding as many bird species as they can locate in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex in a 24 hour period beginning on September 7th.

We need your help!

This "Big Day" of birding helps to support the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, which in turn helps to create and maintain bird habitat for over a hundred different types of migratory birds. Montezuma has been identified by the Audubon Society as a "Important Bird Area" for its key location in the Finger Lakes as a migratory stopover.

By donating to our team, the Mottled Mucks, you are also helping us reach our personal goal of $700 in pledges raised.

Last year we saw 68 species of birds.  We hope to get many more this year, so we have "hired" back a Mottled Mucks alum, Dom DeFazio.  I'm relying on Dom's knowledge of game species birds, especially the turkey, to get us to 69 species this year ;-)  All kidding aside, we are excited to have Dom back on the team this year.

Returning will be Dick Beery, photographer extraordinaire!   Dick has run the Muckrace with me every year, and we are up to 7 years running!  Dick has taken some amazing photographs each year, some of which I have used on the blog, and some he has won prizes and honors for!  It would not be the same without Dick on the team.

I am also really pumped to have Dan Wood back on the team.  Dan has a great knowledge of the Montezuma Wetlands, and a keen eye for birds.  Dan is from Oswego, and he "birds" the harbor there a lot in the winter.  I loved it last year when he got to see fall plumage on some familiar birds he regularly sees there in season.  Dan is an amazing asset to the team, and I'm so glad he will be back for another round.

You can donate to our team here!
(Remember, our team is the Mottled Mucks!)

photo credit: Dick Beery, 3 Oaks Enhancements

For the geeks like me...
History of the Mottled Mucks Success (or lack there of...)
2006 species: 70 (John, Dick, Dom, Chris, Amy, Mary)
2007 species:  82 (John, Dick, Dom, Chris Amy)
20008 species: 60 (John, Dick, Dom) (renamed team "3 Muckateers")
2009 species: 60 (John, Dick) (back to "Mottled Mucks")
2010 species: 62 (John, Dick)
2011 species: 68 (John, Dick, Dan)
2012 species: ??? (John, Dick, Dan, Dom)

Some pictures