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Birding Sites in the Finger Lakes

CHEMUNG COUNTY

Marsh Dam

Marsh Rd.

Erin, NY 14838

Coordinates: 42.102722°N 76.394612°W

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Habitat: As Newtown Creek leaves Park Station Lake, itself a damming of Newtown Creek, the creek runs through the Hamlet of Erin in a southwesterly direction through the county to its rendevous with the Chemung River. Marsh Dam is a damming of a tributary of Newtown Creek just south of Erin. The dam is managed by the Chemung County Department of Parks and Recreation. There is a dedicated parking area on Marsh Rd. A trail from the parking area through a mowed field leads directly to the pond. When standing at the pond, facing south, the grass-covered earthen dam will be directly behind you with a wetland at the southern end of the pond. In elevation, the road is considerably higher than the dam, pond, and wetland.

There is no trail around the pond or wetland, but you are free to walk the area. There is an active beaver lodge on the far side of the pond. A scope would probably be helpful for scanning the wetland.

Seasons: The pond and wetland are best in spring and summer as it is small enough to freeze over in winter. On the pond and in the wetland, watch for Canada geese, puddle ducks, heron, shorebirds like plovers and sandpipers, bitterns, swamp sparrows, and marsh wrens. In the field, watch for savannah and grasshopper sparrows, bobolinks, meadowlarks, and killdeer. Watch the skies for a variety of hawks, especially red-tails and the occasional osprey. If there in the spring near dusk, keep an ear open for woodcock and owls.

Access: The parking area for the marsh is on the west side of Marsh Rd. just south of the intersection of Marsh Rd. and South Greenbush Rd. (often incorrectly written as S. Greenbush Rd.) It is not the southern part of Greenbush Rd., which is another road entirely.

Nearby Birding Sites: Park Station Lake

Created 19 September 2010