Thanks for the report, Tom. It’s true, no Snow Geese were reported on 1 January within the Ithaca Christmas Count circle, nor so far as I know during the Count Week (3 days prior & 3 days after, which was 29 Dec 2018 - 4 Jan 2019), so it looks like we missed them.
A map of the Ithaca Christmas Bird Count can be found on the Cayuga Bird Club website. The 15-mile diameter circle is centered atop Mt Pleasant. Its northern extent covers parts of Pleasant Valley Rd in the Town of Groton. The count circle extends far enough north to include the Ithaca Yacht Club and more along the southwest shore of Cayuga Lake but not quite to Myers Point along the northeast shore of the lake. To the west the count circle includes part of Sheffield Rd on the Ithaca/Enfield town line. To the east it includes most of the Village of Dryden. To the south it barely includes the hamlet of Danby, and also includes Belle School Rd. I believe there is a more precise map somewhere which allows zooming in to determine exact boundaries. Any reports for those dates within the count circle would be most welcome regarding Snow Geese as well as lots of other species we missed. We are envious of the reports of those gorgeous birds from farther north! Meanwhile reports are also welcome anytime regarding new species for 2019 in the Cayuga Lake Basin (generally, lake drainage plus south-draining lands north of the Seneca River/Erie Canal), or reports of rarities anywhere near the basin, or just plain exciting bird finds or phenomena. Although we missed Snow Geese in the southern part of the Cayuga Lake Basin, there is a huge raft of them in the middle of Cayuga Lake in its widest part near Aurora. From NYS-89 on Thursday afternoon it was opposite the Beer Garden by Poplar Beach Rd. It looks like a white island, often with a mist cloud of white birds over it. Those geese typically commute to feed in farm fields in the northern part of the Cayuga Lake basin. - - Dave Nutter > On Jan 4, 2019, at 1:09 PM, Tom <atvaw...@gmail.com> wrote: > > There were about 100 Snow Geese in a field just north of Scipio Center in > Cayuga Co. about noon on 29 Dec 2018. Apparently Snow Geese got missed in > the Christmas Count. > > Tom Vawter > Lansing > -- 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/ --
