Hello all,

Today I had over 2000 Canada Geese fly over campus here in Delaware. Two
CACKLING GEESE were present in these flocks, though separate. The flocks
were mostly headed south, which contradicts what Gary Moon in Columbus
witnessed today. This leads me to believe that the movements we are seeing
are mostly local. Additionally, the fact that I am seeing a disproportionate
number of Cackling Geese compared to other rare geese may suggest this
hypothesis. There may be several Cacklers hanging around in my area this
winter.

Does anyone know the statistics for rare goose numbers? For instance, if one
were to stumble upon a field of 10,000 Canada Geese, how many Snow Geese
would one expect? Cackling? Greater White-fronted? Ross¹s? I have been
tracking my ³local² geese for a while now and usually I see one rare goose
for every 2000 Canada Geese. I¹d be extremely interested in others¹
experiences. Thanks for any info!

So what was my campus species #150?! I actually obtained it earlier this
week, and it was the species that I was most expecting: American Black Duck.
How anticlimactic. But I am happy with what I can get. Here are a few other
birds of interest from the past week:

Hooded Merganser (yes, another new campus bird!)
Pied-billed Grebe
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Swamp Sparrow
Common Grackle

Thanks for any goose stats!

Sean


---
Sean Williams, '11
Undergraduate of Ornithology of Dr. Jed Burtt
Ohio Wesleyan University
HWCC 724
Delaware, OH 43015
617-470-4094

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