[nysbirds-l] Cackling, Pink-footed and 10,000 Snow Geese / Orange County
Early today, Rob stone with called news of a sighting of approx. 10,000 Snow Geese, seen by Herb Houghton in the area of Skinners Lane, Pine Island, earlier in the morning. Rob later called to report that he had seen a flock of approx. 5,000 Snows flying in the area of Oil City Rd., which he followed until they headed into New Jersey. With these birds and thoughts of a Possible Ross's in mind, Dad (Ken McDermott) and I headed out to see what we could find. We began checking the Pine Island hot spots and found ourselves all the way in Skinners Lane. Where the road T's, we turned left toward an area where we had 5,000+ Snows, years ago. At that point a small bridge crosses what is the headwater of the Wallkill River and takes you onto what was once called the "Warren Sod Farm". Approx. 300 Yds. up this road, we came upon thousands of Canada Geese on our right hand side, with Turtle Bay Rd. as a back drop. After scanning for a bit, we came across a Cackling Goose, always nice to see and a first of the year for both of us. Minutes later, we found a Pink-footed Goose!! After 10 minutes or so, about 50 birds lifted off, the Pink-footed among them. We followed the small flock with our Bins until it split into two groups in the area of the apex of the arc of Turtle Bay Rd.(This will make sense when looking on a map). One group set down within view and the other seemed to continue on but appeared to be coming down as well. We quickly headed to Turtle Bay, where we did locate some Geese, but were unable to re-locate the Pink-footed or Cackler. John Haas joined in on the search but by this time (5:15PM), most birds had flown toward the east, presumably to their night time digs. Not sure exactly where all those birds go to be honest. several of us will be out in the morning and will report back if the birds are re-found. Good Birding, Curt McDermott -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Cackling, Pink-footed and 10,000 Snow Geese / Orange County
Early today, Rob stone with called news of a sighting of approx. 10,000 Snow Geese, seen by Herb Houghton in the area of Skinners Lane, Pine Island, earlier in the morning. Rob later called to report that he had seen a flock of approx. 5,000 Snows flying in the area of Oil City Rd., which he followed until they headed into New Jersey. With these birds and thoughts of a Possible Ross's in mind, Dad (Ken McDermott) and I headed out to see what we could find. We began checking the Pine Island hot spots and found ourselves all the way in Skinners Lane. Where the road T's, we turned left toward an area where we had 5,000+ Snows, years ago. At that point a small bridge crosses what is the headwater of the Wallkill River and takes you onto what was once called the Warren Sod Farm. Approx. 300 Yds. up this road, we came upon thousands of Canada Geese on our right hand side, with Turtle Bay Rd. as a back drop. After scanning for a bit, we came across a Cackling Goose, always nice to see and a first of the year for both of us. Minutes later, we found a Pink-footed Goose!! After 10 minutes or so, about 50 birds lifted off, the Pink-footed among them. We followed the small flock with our Bins until it split into two groups in the area of the apex of the arc of Turtle Bay Rd.(This will make sense when looking on a map). One group set down within view and the other seemed to continue on but appeared to be coming down as well. We quickly headed to Turtle Bay, where we did locate some Geese, but were unable to re-locate the Pink-footed or Cackler. John Haas joined in on the search but by this time (5:15PM), most birds had flown toward the east, presumably to their night time digs. Not sure exactly where all those birds go to be honest. several of us will be out in the morning and will report back if the birds are re-found. Good Birding, Curt McDermott -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
