Easter should be moved to late May, a much more interesting time to have an extra day off work to go birding, that way we would not have to brave the sudden dip in temperatures and light snow flurries, such was the fare of Easter Friday and Saturday.
The Snowy Owls have all gone from my area but have been replaced many fold by the hoardes of Snow and Canada Geese. Canada Geese seem to be in every field, not so quietly adding extra nutrients to the thawing landscape. Snow Geese are a bit more circumspect, preferring to drop into the middle of distant fields, not surprising when you see the antics of the local hunters, note to file, birders should not watch hunters at play, it can only enforce a feeling of ‘them and us’. I’ve said before that I have no objection to hunting and responsible hunters, I just feel that we as birders get a raw deal. Hunters can hunt virtually everywhere it seems, the birds do not get a day off and we do not get a hunting free day to observe them. Perhaps we should sit down and discuss time share, and please don’t tell me how much hunters pay to hunt, the object of their attention does not belong to any Government so therefore they have no moral right to charge for hunting. Oh and don’t dare quote some ridiculous religious text giving man dominion over all animals, that would be just too stupid.
Anyway, rant over and on with the birding. After trying for a Ross’s Goose amongst the 10,000 or so Snow Geese in my area several times, but being thwarted by sweaty Neanderthals swinging winged Snow Geese around by the neck to kill them (oops there I go again, sorry, responsible hunters swinging winged Snow Geese around by the neck to kill them, better?), we went out to take a look at a regular goose loafing point by the Pont de Gonzagues on the Beauharnois Canal. On arrival our luck was in and we were able to get close views of perhaps 3500 Snow Geese and smaller numbers of Canada Geese plus a few other returning wildfowl species.
The birds gather on a large lake with good access along the north side, unfortunately the light does not always cooperate from that side but there is a gated track that allows slightly obstructed views from the south side. Just go through the gate with the no hunting sign and follow the track to view by the spent cartridge piles!
After a bit of scanning I picked up an adult Ross’s Goose but quickly lost it again amongst the fluid goose pack. I then spent some time reading the yellow neck collars on some of the birds, eight in all, I’ll post details of their origins when I find out.
The constant movement of the geese (in part because we were a bit exposed and they chose to wander away) later revealed another Ross’s much nearer, a first-winter bird. I took some general ‘in the area’ shots and have a record shot to post below. I tend to think that Ross’s is perhaps more regular than people think, this was the fifth or sixth I’ve found locally, but for many birders here there is not quite the same compulsion to scan every flock for something unusual, something I can fully understand.
While out I snapped a Northern Harrier (badly) and have supplemented this posting with shots of one of two Pileated Woodpeckers in our garden this (Saturday) morning.
A general view of so
me of the Snow Geese.Whites and Blues.
The Ross's Goose is sitting, and is in it's second calendar year (not of sitting obviously). This is the best shot I could find but the length of the bill is exagerated by the legs of the geese behind. I cropped and lightened it a bit then put unsharp mask on, a record shot.
Northern Harrier looping the loop.
Peekaboo pecker, this bird seemed to have found some grubs in one of our wood piles, its mate was in the next tree sending morse code tap tap taps.
Every now and then it hopped into the tree for a look see.
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