With the fading light, I decided to make a quick stop at Belmont Lake State Park in hopes to catch some geese setting up for their evening roost.
There were close to a thousand Canada Geese roosting on the small amount of unfrozen water at the north end of the lake. Flocks were continuing to fly in from the north and at exactly 4:57 PM I watched a BARNACLE GOOSE fly in and join the flock. It was challenging to relocate the Barnacle within the densely packed flock of geese but managed to catch additional glimpses before losing light and calling it a night. This is presumably the same Barnacle Goose that's been showing up in this area on an annual basis. Hopefully the goose continues to roost on Belmont when the ice finally recedes. The north islands can easily block viewing of a large portion of the flock. This flock has historically grazed on the grounds of the St. Charles Cemetery but I haven't noted a single goose there yet this season. Best, Derek Rogers Sayville http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/39025168@N07/ -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
