Saylorville is still mostly locked in ice, but the rest of Polk County was alive with waterfowl, 22 species in all. Between Moeckly, Errington and Chichaqua, I was able to count in the neighborhood of 6,500 GWF Geese. I do not know the story behind their dramatic upsurge over the last five years, but after a huge flock of several thousand lifted for some reason off of some wetlands on the north side of Chichaqua, their characteristic call was in the air for a good hour as flocks flew back and forth. A SandHill Crane was also calling there, and on a pond were about 350 Ring-neck Duck. Three Harriers cruised the grass lands.
--- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
