Hi All, Just a note to say that I was out in the Moose Creek area looking for the Pink-footed Goose from dawn until around 1pm today with no luck.
Some more details from my perspective for those looking...unless I'm the only one who hasn't seen it! :-). The huge flocks of Snow Geese range very widely. I arrived at 8th Rd just south of the Lafleche Landfill site at 7:30am and started watching the spectacle immediately upon arrival. There were already thousands of geese in the air and several more thousand behind a berm beside the road (a sewage lagoon that is locked up tight - I wouldn't have gone in anyway because the birds would all have lifted immediately). So, I stayed beside the lagoon from 7:30 till every goose left at around 9:00am with no luck. I estimated over 15,000 Snow Geese flying over and leaving the area. I watched them fly a LONG way with the bulk of the flock heading Northwest, but another large group heading straight west (or even slightly south). My brother, who I was in contact with, came in from Cumberland (to the NW) and he caught up with a big part of the flock that landed over near the town of Russell, but he had many more that headed north of Hwy 417. He was able to look through the part of the flock that landed with no luck (he's already seen the bird), but then a Bald Eagle scared up the flock. Russell is about 30km as the goose flies from the Moose Creek area. So, all this to say, there is a lot of luck involved. Funny, the other day when a bunch of people saw the bird, the flocks seemed to stay in the area around Moose Creek, so they seem to be choosing different areas to feed. Good luck if you go! Maybe I should have gone west to Wallaceburg! woulda, coulda, shoulda... At Lafleche Landfill there were Lesser Black-backed (adult), Glaucous, Iceland, Great Black-backed (I counted 75 and I'm sure there were more at the landfill hidden from view) and Herring Gulls. Several Rough-legged Hawks in the area and I had 3 Bald Eagles, 2 adult and 1 juv. PS - if you haven't seen the goose spectacle out east, make the effort, it is amazing! Both the sight & sound and I understand it's even bigger back in November (and in the spring). Good birding, Frank Pinilla Richmond Hill, ON DIRECTIONS - coming from 401, exit #770 is Cty Rd 14 (Dickinson Dr), go north 2.5km to CR18, go 10km to Avonmore Rd (CR15), turn north and go 19km to CR6 (which still runs north) and then right on 8th Rd, the lagoons are near address 16767. Lafleche Landfill is north of this spot, drive east to 138 and go north to the landfill which will be on the left/west side. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
