Good day for migrants in the hatchery

[betsy]

Headed over to the hatchery a mite late (a little after 9:00) this morning, since Chris Runk had mentioned that there was a Mourning Warbler to be seen and heard in a pond near the back. Encountered him on one of the side paths as I was headed towards the Mourning W., having passed a loudly singing Red-eyed Vireo in the pond by the first bench.

Chris reported that it seemed as though the migrants had all left on Monday -- he could find only three on Tuesday -- but a new batch must have come in because he'd seen five warblers this morning from just the spot he was standing in (on the path running damward from the second bench). He was having the best hatchery morning he'd had in ages -- maybe all spring. No accounting for it.

Notable species:

Warblers....
Yellow
Magnolia (three plus)
Chestnut-sided
Black-throated Green
Tennessee
American Redstart (many)
Wilson's
Northern Parula (heard by me)
Mourning (we both got a great look at this skulker, who's been in the next to last pond on the dam side, Pump House end -- the one just before the one with all the water in it -- the last few days)

Traill's Flycatcher ( in the Mourning Warbler pond -- Chris headed back there later to see if it would sing for him and reveal itself to be either Willow or Alder)
At least 10 Orchard Orioles in a group, with one 1st year male and 1 fully adult male we managed to see amongst all the females
Eastern Wood-pewee (heard by me)

[Vern]

Betsy...more questions. I was looking at the USGS map you posted, trying to get better oriented, having never been inside the OFH.

Do you park on Winstead near the spillway? Where is the path that leads between the ponds ( I presume there is one)? Also, do you come out the same way you go in? There appears to be a trail that winds around near the dam from the parking area... where does that come out at?

Thanks

I passed through the park pretty early this morning and saw a Baltimore Oriole female that appeared to be gathering nesting material. They sure have a pretty song!

[betsy]

Vern, yes, I normally park in that parking lot on Winsted near the spillway.

From that parking lot, one can take the first, paved path (leading away from the picnic bench under the huge cottonwood tree) over a small bridge and uphill, parallel to the spillway, to the top of the dam, which is good for viewing the lake and upper spillway in winter. From there, you'll note there is also an unpaved path that runs along the bottom of the dam next to the woods. There are a couple of entrances to the hatchery from this path -- the main one is about the third one you come to -- the only one that leads through a batch of posts sunk into the ground (about 20 feet in from the bottom-of-the-dam-path) and across a streambed. If you follow that path straight, it leads out to the west entrance gate. (At this time of year, with all the vegetation crowding into the paths, these entrances are not so obvious as they are in winter.)

[The hatchery itself is separated from the higher land that the paved trail up to the dam goes through by a creekbed that runs more or less parallel to that paved path and then turns and runs parallel to the bottom of the dam. There's another creek that runs along the west side of the hatchery, which has been dammed by beavers in a couple of places. It always has water, unlike the other ones, and joins the creek flowing out from the bottom of the spillway. See directional note at bottom of this post, too.]

Now, back at the parking lot, you'll see a concrete jogging trail running along the edge of the woods. Go left on that trail and when you get to the trash bins by a group of trees on the left, look to your right -- there will be a chain link fence with a door in it that leads across another small bridge into the hatchery. This is the East-West path that comes out the other side, through the posts, by the dam. Follow this path, ignoring a couple of side paths, until you get to a large open area where a major North-South path crosses the one you're on. I call this area the cathedral, because it has the feeling of one. There is a wooden bench there -- the "first" bench you get to from this entrance, so we tend to refer to it as the first bench. If you now go left, you'll come to another bench (the "second" bench) in two "blocks." If you continue on that path you'll eventually come to the north entrance to the hatchery, which is another chain link fence with a door next to the parking lot the Water Authority people who work in the old brick Pump House use. Across the paved road there is the electrical substation where some Monk Parakeets nest.

Use these two main paths to orient yourself. They've had stones laid down in a vain attempt to discourage dirt bikers, which helps you recognize them when you come to them.

OK, back inside the hatchery. Between the N-S stony path and the path at the base of the dam are two more N-S paths. There's also a N-S path on the other side of the main N-S path, which runs along a pond created by beavers. If we number them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 from west to east (Winsted to the dam) , the main N-S path is #2. The path at the bottom of the dam is #5. There's a path that curves around the south end of the hatchery, connecting paths #2 & 4. Path #3 goes all the way to the field near the Pump House. Path #4 doesn't -- but it has an exit to the dam path at its north end. You'd need to take path #3 to get as far as the Mourning Warbler pond. (Note that we refer to the depressions as "ponds" whether or not they currently have water in them, since they were originally ponds.)

Then there are several cross paths connecting the long N-S paths. Not all of them are passable, though. All these paths are on top of the dikes that separated the rectangular fish ponds when this was still a fish hatchery. You might want to take the path by the second bench in both directions (it runs between path #1 and path #4) to get a feel for the width of the hatchery. It's one of the widest cross paths.

After that, you just need to explore to find the paths that are usable. It's easier to get a feel for the place in winter when there aren't all those leaves obscuring everything.

See if you can use this info to help make sense of the USGS map. Or of the hatchery itself once you get into it.

I may come out the same way I go in, or I may enter on the dam side and come out the Winsted side, or vice versa. If I want to skip the spillway I enter and leave on the Winsted Road side through the chain link fence gate.

(Directional orientation: the hatchery isn't aligned along a true north-south line, but for convenience, I referred to the Winsted road side as the west side, the dam side as the east side, the Pump House end as the north end, and the spillway / Garland Rd end as the south end.)

[Vern]

Thanks a lot, Betsy! (again) That gives me a lot better mental picture than what I had. With those directions, I don't think I would have a problem getting around in there.