Late this afternoon we made our first visit of the year to the observation
platform at Dameron Marsh NAP in eastern Northumberland County. On the
drive in we passed about 450 Canada Geese in a field of small grain and
thousands of robins swirled around all the open areas we passed through. At
the parking lot we flushed five or six wild turkeys.
From the platform we counted 81 whistling (tundra) swans, 23 Forster's
terns, 16 gadwall, 2 mallards, 45 Bonaparte's gulls, 35 buffleheads, a
greater yellowlegs, a great horned owl, and another 200 or so ducks that
were too far out to identify.
As the days get longer we'll be able to make this end-of-day visit more
often. It's only a four or five minute walk from the parking lot to the
observation deck from which the entire marshy part of the preserve is
visible.
Tom and Sylvia Saunders
Balls Neck
