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March 17, 2005  Skaday Bridge Bird Sanctuary There is no place called the Skaday Bridge Bird Sanctuary. There is, however, a large hay field to the west of Horse Lake where Bridge Creek flows under a Bridge called Skaday. During the course of spring the large field often floods and provides a stopping place for hundreds of migrating birds. I have recently made several visits to this location not just because it is minutes from my place but because, with most water bodies still locked in ice, the creek and the hay field act as staging areas for waterfowl and other migratory birds moving up to the plateau level. The last two trips to this spot have garnered me sightings of birds that I had yet to record as returnees. There are several spots from which to scan this large hay field. One can park next to the mailboxes on the spur road that turns left off Horse Lake before the bridge. Or, one can go to the bridge itself where there is parking either on the left boat launch area or on the right where a road enters the big hay field to the right. This year I have employed the ‘stop at the bridge’ strategy because I wanted to study the open creek section for waterfowl that might only be found in deeper water and also to be as far away from the houses and attendant noises that all subdivisions produce. After safely tucking my van into what I assume is a seldom-used entry road to the field, I cross the road and step into the east field where the fence has toppled. Here I follow a row of solid hummocks that parallel the creek bank and walk to the curve of the creek in an effort to get away from traffic noise. This is not to suggest one can actually get away from the sound but it is far enough away to tune it out when the birding heats up. The first visit I took to this area was about 10 days ago and very little was happening. A few Canada Geese and some Ravens raised a little noise but other than that it was just a nice place to sit. The following visits have been better for birding. Now great flocks of Canada Geese raise a constant clamor as they feed in the flooded portion of the field. Amid these birds are the trumpeter Swans, numbering far fewer but making up for their numbers by their size. I stood under a flock of nine Trumpeter Swans as they took wing and it is a sight that is at once awesome and somehow bizarre. Snow white birds with unusually long necks craning into the wind on massive wings suggests something from fairy tales rather than the harsh world of snow, ice and cold. One memorable sight from my last visit was that of more than 60 Pintail Ducks. I’d been reading lately how Pintail numbers were declining at a somewhat alarming rate with no known reason. Seeing these birds wheeling through he air and floating on the flooded field gave me hope that perhaps, especially if they were spread over several types of habitat, they might be able to fight the decline. Pintail Ducks are the sleekest looking of the waterfowl. The male sports the long sprig of feathers that gives the species its name and the female resembles a mallard or female teal and like most female birds is not brightly plumaged. In the flock of Ducks and Geese that stretched for several hundred feet across the field I spotted several Mallards. These were noteworthy in that, despite open water on the creek for a few weeks now, no Mallards had shown up. The outflow of the creek was also an active place for ducks. At the edge of the solid lake ice, nine Common Goldeneyes swam in all their glory. I can never understand the appellation ‘Common’ being applied to birds that are so spectacular. Through the scope I was able to watch these birds as if I was right among them. The males, obviously anxious to impress the few females in their presence, flopped their iridescent purple heads back on their shoulders, pumped their red feet in a forward thrust and emitted a weak ‘beent’ call, somewhat like a Nighthawk. A few of the Goldeneyes leaped up on the ice along the creek bank just as three Common Mergansers splashed down. Again, as I studied these large waterfowl the word ‘common’ seemed inaccurate. Red bills, stout at the base and tapered to fish-catching pliers at the tips were thrust upward from heavy green-black heads. Startlingly white bodies with touches of black rode strongly on the waves. I don’t think it was my presence that urged them on, but after several minutes of swimming along the solid lake ice edge they leapt into the air. I followed their flight as they climbed toward me. Circling the bay once, they turned west, gained height and went on their way. I was getting a little cool by now and packed up my scope. As I walked over the hummocks toward the van two smaller birds took wing. Their flight, a somewhat fast fluttering stalling in air, told me they were Meadowlarks, the first for me this year. They settled on the road edge where I was able to glimpse the yellow on one’s breast but soon they flew again and as they often do, disappeared in the grass nearby. That was almost it for that day’s birding at Skaday Bridge Bird Sanctuary except that as I drove along the west field I spotted a flock of five shorebirds looking doleful at the edge of a puddle in the field. At first I thought I might have to pull a somewhat dangerous stop on a corner to get an identity but, as there was no one behind me, I slowed down just a bit and saw the big field mark. All five had black collars around the upper chest. They were Killdeers, another bird that had eluded me so far this spring. To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
