Fuertes Bird Sanctuary - UNA 100

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Following Fall Creek upstream away from the Swan Pen, one will soon come to a green footbridge that crosses over a small lagoon and enters a tract of mature bottomland forest. This is the home of the Fuertes Bird Sanctuary, named after famed bird artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes following his untimely death in 1927. Fuertes was the first president of the Cayuga Bird Club, and it is the club that is responsible for the upkeep of the sanctuary. In recent years, birders have visited this area, also referred to as the Renwick Sanctuary, primarily to view nesting Great Horned Owls. This species begins breeding in January, and can be located in the Fuertes Sanctuary by scanning large cavities or the tops of broken-off trees for the head (or at least "horns") of an incubating owl.
The Fuertes Sanctuary is rarely birded during spring migration, but sightings of Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-headed Vireo, and Palm Warbler during a single late April visit are suggestive of the potential to see migrants here. During the breeding season, the forest is home to a suite of breeding birds that includes Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, American Redstart, and Scarlet Tanager. The large sycamores and cotttonwoods in the sanctuary also provide nesting opportunities for a variety of cavity-nesting birds, ranging from Hooded Merganser to Pileated Woodpecker to European Starling. One of the drawbacks of birding in the Fuertes Sanctuary is that as a floodplain forest, it can sometimes be flooded during the springtime, rendering the trails inaccessible. And, as a fairly secluded area along the edge of a city park, the sanctuary has been reported to be the site of some unsavory or illegal human activities in the past. As a result, birders are encouraged to visit the sanctuary only during daylight hours.

How to go there: Bus 13 http://www.tcatbus.com/pages/system

Ecotourism & Sustainability Map
updated 03/2012 by Ithaca - Tompkins County NY