SENECA FALLS - Signs of winter life and the promise of a hearty lunch brought about 54 guests to the Montezuma Winery for its first winter hike and luncheon program Saturday morning.
Montezuma Audubon Center director Frank Moses spoke briefly then led hikers around the perimeter of a wooded area near the winery for an hour, bird watching and tracking animals.
William Martin, son of winery owner George Martin, said the idea of the event was to bring some people out in the wintertime.
“We link ourselves with the (wildlife) refuge,” he said. Family members, avid birders and waterfowlers, also went on the hike.
Moses emphasized the Au-dubon Center's role in educating the public about the wildlife in this area.
“This is an area that's very significant,” he said. “More than a million birds come through yearly.”
He handed out binoculars and told the group that they would be “trailblazing,” as the refuge plans to add a trail where they walked on Saturday.
“The great thing about getting out in the winter is the tracings of the critters,” he said. He showed walkers how to spot animal tracks in the snow, which wasn't very deep.
With Moses leading, people walked two-by-two past a grove of trees bearing significant holes - woodpecker holes.
“You can tell the woodpecker's size by the size of the holes,” he said. “We have the first or second largest woodpecker in North America here, a pileated woodpecker. Some people have reported ivory billed pileated woodpecker sightings.” On the verge of extinction, the bird had begun to disappear in the '60s. “The latest documentation was in Big Woods, Arkansas, in 2002,” Moses said. Cornell ornithologists have recorded a bird sounding like an ivory billed woodpecker, so they believe it is in this area.
“It's a pretty exciting possibility that a species could be brought back,” he said.
Moses pointed out tracks in the snow, maybe a dog's, maybe a coyote's. If in doubt, check their droppings, he said. Coyote droppings have fur in them from the animals eaten. He also explained how to distinguish squirrel tracks from rabbit tracks. Hikers found tracks leading up to a fox's den. Some cat paw prints leading to an area dappled with blood suggested that a cat had been feasting on its prey - a field mouse.
A few hawks circled the sky. Stopping in an area where chickadees had been seen, Moses tried to imitate their song: “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger,” he called.
No chickadees. Then he tried their distress call, “Fish-sh, fish-sh, fish-sh.” Still no luck.
A narrow creek in the walkers' path added variety to the trek with people inventing their own style of getting across.
“This wouldn't be a nature walk if we weren't crossing a creek,” Moses said.
Eagle or osprey nests on electric poles along Route 5 spurred a discussion of how they differ.
When the hikers returned to the winery, owner Ginny Martin had the hot chocolate ready, while Donna Lahr, promotions manager, ladled out hot toddies made of Dragonfly Black Current Apple Wine. “A lot of our labels are birds and nature,” Lahr said.
Lunch followed: a six-bean organic tomato based soup, and Cayuga White wine; the entree, a gourmet turkey or chicken salad wrap with Cabernet wine, and s'mores for dessert, made over an open fire with homemade marshmallows.
Cranberry Bog wine and Fran Gewurztraminer wine were there to wash it down.
After lunch, bird rehabilitator Trudy Gaertner introduced a gray horned owl, a kestrel and a turkey Vulture.
She spoke about animal rehabilitation for birds and other creatures and explained how she came upon her “roommates.”
Cassie the owl has been with her for 11 years. “Buzzy, the Turkey Vulture, has a face only a mother could love,” she said.
While this is the first time the winery has paired up with the refuge for a hike, it has organized a Wildflowers and Wine Father's Day event and a refuge bus tour for the past two years.
Formerly located in Sterling as Martin's Honey Farm and Meadery, the winery has been in business since 1999.
It moved to its present location on Routes 5 and 89 in 2001 when the owners moved from Sterling to Montezuma.
George and Ginny Martin run the family owned business with their two sons, William and Edward.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
William Martin, son of winery owner George Martin, said the idea of the event was to bring some people out in the wintertime.
“We link ourselves with the (wildlife) refuge,” he said. Family members, avid birders and waterfowlers, also went on the hike.
Moses emphasized the Au-dubon Center's role in educating the public about the wildlife in this area.
“This is an area that's very significant,” he said. “More than a million birds come through yearly.”
He handed out binoculars and told the group that they would be “trailblazing,” as the refuge plans to add a trail where they walked on Saturday.
“The great thing about getting out in the winter is the tracings of the critters,” he said. He showed walkers how to spot animal tracks in the snow, which wasn't very deep.
With Moses leading, people walked two-by-two past a grove of trees bearing significant holes - woodpecker holes.
“You can tell the woodpecker's size by the size of the holes,” he said. “We have the first or second largest woodpecker in North America here, a pileated woodpecker. Some people have reported ivory billed pileated woodpecker sightings.” On the verge of extinction, the bird had begun to disappear in the '60s. “The latest documentation was in Big Woods, Arkansas, in 2002,” Moses said. Cornell ornithologists have recorded a bird sounding like an ivory billed woodpecker, so they believe it is in this area.
“It's a pretty exciting possibility that a species could be brought back,” he said.
Moses pointed out tracks in the snow, maybe a dog's, maybe a coyote's. If in doubt, check their droppings, he said. Coyote droppings have fur in them from the animals eaten. He also explained how to distinguish squirrel tracks from rabbit tracks. Hikers found tracks leading up to a fox's den. Some cat paw prints leading to an area dappled with blood suggested that a cat had been feasting on its prey - a field mouse.
A few hawks circled the sky. Stopping in an area where chickadees had been seen, Moses tried to imitate their song: “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger,” he called.
No chickadees. Then he tried their distress call, “Fish-sh, fish-sh, fish-sh.” Still no luck.
A narrow creek in the walkers' path added variety to the trek with people inventing their own style of getting across.
“This wouldn't be a nature walk if we weren't crossing a creek,” Moses said.
Eagle or osprey nests on electric poles along Route 5 spurred a discussion of how they differ.
When the hikers returned to the winery, owner Ginny Martin had the hot chocolate ready, while Donna Lahr, promotions manager, ladled out hot toddies made of Dragonfly Black Current Apple Wine. “A lot of our labels are birds and nature,” Lahr said.
Lunch followed: a six-bean organic tomato based soup, and Cayuga White wine; the entree, a gourmet turkey or chicken salad wrap with Cabernet wine, and s'mores for dessert, made over an open fire with homemade marshmallows.
Cranberry Bog wine and Fran Gewurztraminer wine were there to wash it down.
After lunch, bird rehabilitator Trudy Gaertner introduced a gray horned owl, a kestrel and a turkey Vulture.
She spoke about animal rehabilitation for birds and other creatures and explained how she came upon her “roommates.”
Cassie the owl has been with her for 11 years. “Buzzy, the Turkey Vulture, has a face only a mother could love,” she said.
While this is the first time the winery has paired up with the refuge for a hike, it has organized a Wildflowers and Wine Father's Day event and a refuge bus tour for the past two years.
Formerly located in Sterling as Martin's Honey Farm and Meadery, the winery has been in business since 1999.
It moved to its present location on Routes 5 and 89 in 2001 when the owners moved from Sterling to Montezuma.
George and Ginny Martin run the family owned business with their two sons, William and Edward.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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