The movements of Snow Geese continue to confound birders here. It is a feast or famine situation with good numbers appearing in an area one day and few the next or even an hour later.
The following are key locations to check this weekend. Cobbs Lake Creek east of Bourget has had large numbers of both Canadas and Snow Geese. Earlier in the week the number was very high. By mid-week there were fewer but it is still well worth the trip. Riviere Beaudette south of Green Valley along Cty Rd 34 showed well a week ago but I have not had reports this week. There are some birds in the Winchester area near the treatment ponds northeast of town Check Chesterville near the river. Last evening a very large number of Snows was seen heading east near South Lancaster. These are likely birds that wander in the daytime and return to the river to roost. From 5 on check the river off South Lancaster and east to Westley's Point. The birds wander widely at this time of year so it is nothing for them to move from the Ottawa River near L'Orignal to the St. Lawrence. Similarly, many of these birds may be retracing their steps from Quebec where the largest number can be found. For the next couple of weeks watch for a few thousand Lesser Snow Geese to join the flocks especially at Winchester, Chesterville and Bourget. These flocks often remain together. SIze can be difficult to determine without Greaters present but the number of blue morphs gives them away. A pure flock of Lessers of 1000 birds can have a few hundred blues. A similar flock of Greaters would have just a few birds or none at all. All of the geese return to the water for the night. The Ottawa and St. Lawrence are preferred now but as treatment ponds open up in various communities these will become the favoured locations. A few Golden Eagles follow the flocks and Balds may be present as well. Brian Morin Cornwall Directions: Cobb’s Lake Creek floodplain viewing is best from Russell Rd. (Prescott-Russell Cty. Rd. 2 east of Bourget). Green Valley is along Cty Rd 34 north of Lancaster Winchester is south of Ottawa along Hwy 31 Chesterville is along Cty Rd 43 east of Hwy 31. L'Orignal is west of Hawkesbury off Hwy 17. South Lancaster is off Hwy 401 at the Lancaster exit Westley's Point is 5 km east of South Lancaster along South Service Rd. _______________________________________________ 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
