With a warm, sunny weekend ahead, consider a visit to Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge now to experience bird migration, natural abundance, and wildlife activity. Various shorebirds are already heading through the area, providing special sightings. The refuge is located near the Niagara-Orleans county line.
Route 63, which connects the refuge’s Orleans and Genesee county sides, is expected to reopen to through traffic this weekend. The refuge’s visitor center will be open Saturday until 4 p.m.
, with representatives available to lend binoculars and field guides, and answer questions. For woodpeckers, warblers, nuthatches and brown creepers, walk the located off of Lewiston Road. The Kanyoo Trail is a short loop hike of just over 1 mile that takes visitors through forest and marsh habitats.
A bumper crop of fallen acorns is attracting red squirrels. Damper, milder weather is starting to bring colorful mushrooms and fungi to fallen logs and mossy hollows. The woods are full of berries and wild grapes, attracting a variety of wildlife.
(Be aware, foraging for human food is not permitted at Iroquois refuge.) At this time of year, most warblers have molted out of their showy summer breeding plumage, so they are notoriously difficult to identify, but it can be a fun challenge. Along the boardwalk through the marsh, keep an eye out for swimming muskrats and look for painted turtles basking in the late summer sun.
For wading birds, ducks, shorebirds, egrets, and sandhill cranes, .