The large flocks of Greater Snow Geese have arrived east of Casselman. On Tuesday I had at least 35,000 on the sod farm. There was only one other small flock located at St. Isidore so anyone looking for the birds would head to this location. Last year the numbers here maxed out above 60,000.
The birds may be north or south of Lafleche Road and are usually at a distance so if you want to check the flock in greater detail a scope will be necessary. Sometimes, however, the birds will wander closer to Lafleche Road. But if you just want to see a lot of Snow Geese, you don't even need binoculars. There are likely other birds mixed in but they will be difficult to locate. A flock of this size likely has a few hybrid Lesser Snow Geese x Ross's Geese and possibly a Ross's Goose. Most birds are Greaters but there are Lesser Snow Geese as well. The number of blue morphs is low. The birds should be on the fields for the entire day but will slowly start to drift off about 4:30-5:00. Brian Morin Cornwall Directions: >From Ottawa take Hwy 417 east past Casselman. Take the Hwy 138 exit for Cornwall. Head south 1.5km to Lafleche Rd. This is an access road for the landfill and heavy trucks are present all day during the week. Park off to the side in one of the pulloffs and stay off the road. There is a significant number of gulls at the landfill so watch for early white-winged gulls. Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present in good numbers several weeks ago but there are likely far fewer now. Most birds seemed to be Herring. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
