Hi All, I finally had some time to wander over to the Johnston Pits this morning. The Mute Swan was still present. I'm not sure what kind of Geese numbers have been here throughout the season, but I estimated 6,150 for Canada Geese and another 240 for Cackling Geese, both of which seem pretty incredible to me. I only saw 5 other waterfowl species, best of which was a female Wood Duck. A Great Blue Heron was on the river as well. I wandered up to where the Snowy Owl had been seen NW of Ankeny, but did not have any luck. A male Northern Harrier in the same area (NW 26th St.) was a fair consolation prize. Even better, on the next road to the west (NW 37th St.), was a Northern Shrike perched atop a tree where the High Trestle Trail intersects the gravel road south of the homes here. On a side note, last week between Grimes and Johnston, I estimated upwards of 6,000 Geese in the fields. Yesterday, there were approx. 2,500-3,000 Geese at the Casey's headquarters in Ankeny. This morning, I had >6,000 Geese at Johnston. There are a LOT of Geese wintering in the area this year!
Danny Akers [email protected] --- 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/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
