The Central & Western New York chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC/CWNY) has the opportunity to purchase 500 acres of prime bird migration stopover and nesting habitat on Sodus Bay.

Pending approval of our membership, the RBA board is recommending that the club contribute $20,000 from our Capital Fund toward the purchase of this important birding habitat.

The total cost of the parcel is $1.2-million; TNC/CWNY has received a federal grant of $1.0-million from North American Wetlands Conservation Act funds toward the purchase, leaving $200,000 to complete the acquisition - that is the target for our contribution.

The board's vote on its recommendation was unanimous, but the RBA membership must vote to approve a contribution of this size; the board has scheduled that vote for our 2012 February monthly meeting (Thursday, February 9th, 7:30 pm, Brighton Town Hall).

We will devote the entire business meeting to this subject - representatives from TNC/CWNY will be there to make a brief presentation and answer questions.

Here are some comments from RBA members about the property:

From Dave Tetlow:
I believe that this would be a worthwhile venture for the RBA. There is nothing but an upside to the whole acquisition/project. The property has varied habitat which is essential for migration stopover ecology. It of course also provides riparian habitat which helps keep the Third Creek tributary cleaner. The only error in the article is the comment on shorebirds using the grasslands for nesting, there are no true grasslands present , and what is present is certainly not going to support shorebird(Upland Sandpiper) nesting. I personally would support the project 100%.

From Mike Tetlow:
This is a difficult property to assess as it has been private and I have only birded its perimeter.
In my experience any of these stream valleys leading into Sodus Bay are extremely valuable. I/we have birded the valley at Second Creek which is similar habitat one valley to the west (I believe that is state land now) often when I was younger and found that habitat to be a great spring and fall migrant trap. Not to mention it was one of the more successful Wild Turkey nesting areas in upstate.
Similarly, Third Creek flows from a mature deciduous forest valley into a small but productive marsh then to a beautiful cove across the road. The road separating the marsh from the bay is the only negative but provides easy access form the north if they are so inclined to allow it. Wood Duck, Green Heron, Sora and Virginia Rail nest here. Both Bittern species have been seen there in the spring and may have nested. The wooded habitat on both sides of the creek is mostly mature hardwoods. In similar valleys nearby, Hooded Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed vireo, Wood thrush, Veery, Pileated Woodpecker and Screech Owl have all nested.
Even though it is more distant from the lakeshore than, let's say Island Cottage, the fact that it edges at a large bay produces similar fallout for spring and fall migrants.
The NE portion of the property is a large overgrown meadow housing Field, Song Sparrows, Yellow warbler and Common Yellowthroat and in a few years will have matured to hold Gray Catbird and Brown Thrasher.
The high elevation point of this lot is at the road and I have watched the spring hawk flight from here. The value of this property to nesting Cooper's and Red-tailed hawks is obvious but the mature hardwoods are undervalued for their importance to roosting migrant raptors. I have seen good numbers of Broad-winged Hawks and even Golden Eagle come in and out of this and neighboring woodland roost sites.
The diversity of this habitat and the various habitat edges are a perfect blend to allow for a large diversity of breeding species and migrants. If public access is granted this spot will very quickly be known as a birding hotspot.
If more breeding data is required I'm sure someone surveyed this area for the 2000-2005 atlas and I could probably find specific data.

From Dominic Sherony:
Following up on Michael's note, the Shaker Tract land is in Atlas block 3378B. We registered 81 species in that block for the 2000 Atlas and, of these, we had 50 confirmed breeding and the remainder probable or possible. They included all the species Mike mentioned.

Click here to see an article on this opportunity from TNC/CWNY.