Winter along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail National Scenic Byway offers great bird watching opportunities in Massena and Ogdensburg, according to the trail’s publicist.

The region’s coastal areas are “atwitter with a diversity of birds throughout the cold season while it bare-branch hardwood forests offer unobstructed viewing of winter fliers,” says Kara Lynn Dunn.

Among the species frequenting the trail byway are bald eagles, tundra swan, purple sandpiper, mergansers, scaups, goldeneyes, and many species of gulls.

Dunn’s release lists the Massena power plant as a “hot spot” and Sparrowhawk Point in Ogdensburg as another location for bird watching, along with open water outlets on major rivers.

The diversity of winter fliers along the Salmon and St. Lawrence Rivers and in the 1000 Islands section of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail includes eagles, larks, snow bunting, common goldeneye, greater scaup and iceland gulls, according to Dunn.

Great Lakes Seaway Trail “outdoor storyteller” signs by noted wildlife artist Robert McNamara are posted at significant birding locations.

Free resources for birders include a species checklist, fact sheet, and site listings at www.seawaytrail.com/birding and a 17-stop Great Lakes Seaway Trail birding travel itinerary at www.seawaytrail.com/roadtrips/.