At about 615 tonight, coming back from a walk N of Hile School Rd, just E of the old railroad, I noticed an unusual no. of ducks suddenly in the air, flying a bit erratically and scattering.
Then a huge (they are all huge) maroon hot air balloon edged over the trees, going N above the dip/wetland that is the marshy headwaters of Owasco Lake. This is an important roosting area for ducks, geese, Redwinged Blackbirds and the large number of Rusty Blackbirds that have joined them this week. (Around 5 pm, I counted about 35 Rustys…many vocalizing in groups as the sun lowered, keeping a little separate from the Redwings and vice versa. But over the next hour, groups of both blackbirds kept flying W toward the marshes, so I really have no idea how many of either.) In any case, the balloon suddenly went lower and looked like it was going to land in the marsh. It seemed to be running out of fuel, as the pilot kept fireing intermittently and the flame would die abruptly. My neighbors were watching from the road at the marsh and said the basket almost touched down. As it skimmed through, hundreds of very loudly calling Canada geese rose out, along with more mallards and woodies, scattering in subgroups in all directions. Quite the cacaphony! Some seemed unwilling to go back to the marsh, some circling and circling and landing finally in a cornfield. Other ducks appeared to be heading S to somewhere else. I had visions of chest waders and a long fight with masses of deflated balloon. Fortunately for balloonists and everyone’s evening, they found enough fuel to get it above key trees, lift out of the marshland and land in some fields to the NE, nearer Peruville Road. So if anyone was wondering, geese think balloons are scary. Anne -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
