Marsh Life

The day is May 18, 2020, a cloudy Monday morning with light rain. As I come down the road that leads to the West Rutland Marsh Boardwalk, I'm encased by wheat growing on either side of me. This boardwalk is one of my favorite spots to catch the sunset and hear/see all the wildlife the marsh holds. The marsh is surrounded by dense forests which makes for an astonishing total landscape. The marsh itself is filled with wheat, cattails, red-dogwood, water iris, a variety of grasses and so much more. As I start my birding experience at 7:09 am, I take in some information listed on the kiosk right before the boardwalk. The main picture is of a Virginia Rail which in text, reads that this is a breeding site for such birds including American Bittern, Least Bittern, and Sora. On the other side of the kiosk, it provides an abundant list of birds that are found at the marsh throughout the whole year. Some of these for the month of May include Canada Goose, Hooded Merganser, Ruffed Grouse, American Black Duck, Double-crested Cormorant, Green Heron, etc. I believe when I first got there I was greeted at the front of the boardwalk by a little swamp sparrow along with an abundance of calls and songs. It was truly a dense ecosystem. I concluded my birding around 11:00 am when a few too many elders came to do the same.

Posted on 18 de maio de 2020, 09:24 PM by chey_conn