There are pockets of Snow Geese being reported in several locations, so far between Hwy 417 and the St. Lawrence River. There are no major concentrations at this time. There is no snow left so birds are free to feed in any cornfield which makes finding feeding locations harder. It is a very broad area to cover so being strategic is important, otherwise you could drive around for an hour or more and see nothing at all.
There are daily reports near South Lancaster. Check Westley's Point along South Service Rd and cornfields north of there. There have been reports along Cty Rd 34 at Green Valley in the floodplain. To the west, some birds have been seen north of Ingleside along Cty Rd 18 west of Osnabruck Centre. Also, from Morrisburg west check along Lakeshore Drive then continue on to Iroquois in case some are on the river. West of Berwick, a flock of 1,000+ has been reported on the South Nation River at Cty Rd. 9. The Long Sault Parkway is not open at this time of year and the ice is still heavy along Cty Rd. 2 west of Long Sault. Note, the majority of Snow Geese are Greaters, which are visibly larger, side-by-side, than Lessers. Lessers are the subspecies reported in very small numbers (singles or a few) in Central, Southern and Northern Ontario although flocks of Greaters sometimes head north along the Ottawa River through the Temiskaming area. In the East, possibly up to 5-10,000 Lesser Snow Geese move through each migration with a temporary concentration of several thousand in the Winchester and Chesterville areas. Watch for flocks with a noticeable number of blue morphs which indicates those are Lessers in that flock and the entire flock of both colours may be Lessers. Blue morphs in the Greater subspecies are uncommon and in the last 20 years in the East I'd say only represent between 0.25 to1% of the birds, far less than the 4-5% reported officially. Maybe there are more blues further east in Quebec. It can be up to 25% blues in Lesser flocks. Many of these birds look darker than the Greater blues, almost a blue/black colour. Generally those flocks appear 2-3 weeks after the initial big movement of Greaters. Finally, we do see a few Ross's Geese with each migration but they are rare. We also regularly see a few hybrid Ross's x Lesser Snow Geese so assuming a smaller goose is a Ross's in the East is risky because often they are not. Most small geese in the rest of Ontario are likely pure Ross's. Take a picture if you can and ask for clarification. Brian Morin -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
