Day Thirty

Day thirty was spent at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.  This a nice, large refuge that is home to lots of different birds, as well as some small mammals.  We drove the car trail, and Sam had a blast while getting the best view from standing up and hanging out of the sunroof!

We walked one of the trails to check out the view from an observation tower.  Along the driving trail, we stopped at a trail to a photo blind that was set up for visitors.  Unfortunately, (for us) there was an airboat in the marsh practicing his skills, so the noise scared away most of the birds in the area for a while.  We will go back another day to check out more trails.

At the visitor center, there were two large bird houses set up for martens, and they were plentiful.  Inside the visitor center, the docent was very helpful explaining the trails and species to view.  There were several nesting sights for ospreys, and also a couple of bald eagle nests in the refuge.

While walking around, we saw a small millipede, leopard frogs, lots of dragonflies, some cool forest snails all over the milkweed plants, and lots of different birds.  We spotted great blue herons, canada geese, one unidentified goose, martens, robins, red-winged blackbirds, ospreys, greater yellowlegs, semipalmated plovers, and one beautiful yellow bird that we believe was a species of warbler.

When our stomachs began to growl, we drove into Seneca Falls and had lunch at Parker's Grill and Tavern.  Seneca Falls is a quaint small town with the typical Main Street lined with old brick buildings - reminiscent of my childhood.  We had a yummy lunch (late lunch) and meandered back to the coach to relax for the evening.