As an addendum to Connie Denyes report about the snow geese at LaFleche Rd. my wife, Dawn, and I went out to this area to see the snow geese which gather in large flocks (thousands) at this time of year. The night before Hans VanderZweep and I chased the back roads around Moose Creek to find the roosting snowgeese in the Moose Creek Lagoons, just northwest of Moose Creek. Just after sunset, on a clear evening, we watched in awe as the sky filled with snow geese and they all filtered down into the sewage lagoon. This process went on for half an hour. I don't know how all the geese fitted into that lagoon. Later in the process, the Snows were joined with numerous Canada geese. We estimated, coservatively, 40,000+ snow geese. They were still landing when we left at 5PM. We went to get a video of this event the following day. When we arrived at the Lagoon at 4:05 PM, there was not one goose around. We went back out to LaFleche Rd. and saw the huge mass of geese at the southern side of the Manderly Sod Farm. As this was a dark, cloudy evening, we were ready to give up on them, when the whole group lifted at 4:33PM. We jumped in the car and drove to the Lagoon, about 4 miles. Geese were continuosly in the air over our heads. Once again, we watched the impressive sight of all those geese going to roost in the Lagoon. The whooshing of wings and honking and squawking of the birds is unforgetable. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get a good video. We left for home in almost darkness at 5PM and geese were still coming in. Moose Creek Lagoon is one of the few Lagoons to restrict entry to everyone, birders and hunters alike. The berm walls are too high to see the water but the geese have easy access. Hunters are not allowed access to this Lagoon. Maybe the geese know it is safe to overnight here. You can easily park by the side of the road to watch the whole process. It was one of my birding highlights of the year. Hopefully they will stick around for a few more days. From Moose Creek, take Valley Rd. north, turn left on 8the Conc. Rd. You will se the berms around the lagoon on the left about 1/2 mile down the Rd. Bob Scranton _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
