We are well into this spring's activity whereas in most years we would just be starting. Birders are looking for reliable locations and at this time there are at least two. The first is at Westley's Point east of South Lancaster on South Service Rd. On Thursday morning there were about 15,000 on the St. Lawrence where they spent the night. Beginning at 7:40 a.m. a few lifted off, heading north for a few hours. The rest left by 7:55. The birds headed to either corn fields a few kilometres north or to the floodplain at Green Valley on Cty Rd 34. I had about 7,000 at the latter site at 8:20. They would likely have returned sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and headed back north later in the day, then returned to the river for the night.
The other location is around Winchester. A flock of about 4,000 can be seen somewhere around town. On Wednesday evening I saw them first in a cornfield along Hwy 31 immediately north of town. They spent the night in a flooded field that had developed a large pond southeast of town, immediately south of the train overpass. The adjacent dirt road (Pemberton Rd) is unmaintained and is in rough shape so watch the conditions. They may also be in a field east of Ottawa Street or in a cornfield off Cayer Rd. I never had a good look at the entire flock together in reasonable light (It was almost dark when I saw them in the flooded field) so I can't estimate the number of Lesser Snow Geese but there is a high percentage of both white and blue morphs. The percentage of blues is much higher than in flocks of Greaters where they are insignificant, often only a handful. The two subspecies are noticeably different when side by side but hard to tell apart at other times. I expect that northern locations east of Ottawa, Bourget, Fournier and eventually along the Ottawa River between L'Orignal and Voyageur Provincial Park will become active in the days and weeks ahead. Wet fields are attractive for both Canadas and Snows as well as ducks. 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.
