In the last few days, observers have been checking a variety of locations in a line from Ottawa to Cardinal and points to the east but with limited success.
The Navan area, including the floodplain between Milton Rd and Frank Kenny has attracted about 30,000 Canada Geese but only a handful of Snow Geese. The Bourget floodplain had no birds on the weekend. Along the St. Lawrence there were no Snows today immediately west of Morrisburg but that may have been a timing issue. They could have headed to cornfields. On Sunday there were no Snow Geese at Chesterville or Winchester although I was surprised with a flock of about 700 that caught me offguard when they flew at treetop level directly overhead south of Russell. I also had a surprising show of Canadas along Cty Rd #43 a few km west of Winchester. There were over 80,000 Canada Geese spread out over three adjacent fields but two fields in, too far to check. Now for the good news. Snow Geese are still here but in very specific spots, unlike Canadas which can be almost anywhere. I covered many areas in the east and found flocks at three locations today. The first was the floodplain north of St. Isidore along Cty Rd #9 at Riceville. There is still a lot of ice, some snow and some open water. There were about 8,000 Snows here and a smaller number of Canadas. The Snows were on land towards the east end of the flooded fields so for a closer view go to the top of the hill and head east to Fournier, turn left in town and head straight to the dead end road that borders the water. This area should attract far more birds before long, especially with rain coming in a few days to raise the water level. Continue east a short distance on the main road and check the flooded fields there as well. That area had no ice but also no birds. The second site was along Cty Rd #34 south of Green Valley. The small floodplain had about 8,000 birds. They were off to the west in backlight so not a good show. The final site was the big one. At Westley's Point, 5 km east of South Lancaster along the south service road there were about 25,000, mostly on the remaining ice shelf. About 1,500 were close by in the adjacent field for a while until they all decided it was time to return to the ice. This ice won't last much longer and ice is always an attraction for geese. These geese may be feeding in fields a few km due north along concession #4 so if there are none on the river they may be direcly north. Birds leave the river at some point in the morning, head to the fields and usually return late morning to early afternoon, often returning to the fields 60-90 minutes before sunset and settling back on the river for the night. >From Friday on we will see water in various fields for a while so geese will take advantage of new opportunities and other traditional feeding areas will become active. While the initial flight is over, birds move around and we can see an influx of some from Quebec over time. We also await the arrival of 3-5,000 Lesser Snow Geese, which seem to reach us 2-3 weeks after the initial flight. They have traditionally been seen more often at Winchester, Chesterville and Bourget but can appear anywhere, usually mixed in with Greaters. Lessers are the birds that most of Southern Ontario is familiar with. Snow Geese are smart birds with long memories and can live many years. They remember where they have gone in previous years so other sites will eventually come to life. Brian Morin -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
