I travelled both north and west of Cornwall with mixed results. I had no geese along Hwy 138 at the sod farm, near the lagoons at Moose Creek or in the fields north of the 417 towards St. Isidore. Along Route 400 at Embrun near the lagoons there were about 2300 in the air moving in every direction but not settling. They eventually headed towards Russell but I did not locate them there.
I headed to Winchester where I had a large flock in the air, easily 15,000, near the town lagoons. It split up multiple times, milling about, but then regrouped. This went on over a 30 minute period near noon with the birds never touching down. Then they all headed to the water. They had likely been in the nearby harvested corn fields around mid-morning. There were very few blue morphs suggesting that a good number of Lesser Snow Geese that had been present a couple of weeks ago had moved on. The birds should remain in the region until the ground is noticeably snow covered to a depth of about 3-4" for an extended period. 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.
