Yesterday afternoon, my birding pal and I encountered an enormous mixed flock of geese and dabblers feeding in corn stubble on the south side of Rte 6, just west of Rte 510 in Sandusky county. We estimated the flock to contain about 5000 birds. They were spread out over many acres. Whenever an 18 wheeler would go roaring by, thousands of ducks would lift up and fly around in huge clouds for a bit, then resettle in the field. This constant remixing made it very difficult to estimate numbers, as did the sheer spectacle of it.

Our best guess was:

3000 Canada Geese
1500 Mallards
1000 Black Ducks
500 Pintails

No other species were noted, which seemed odd in and of itself.

Note that traffic is heavy and speedy along this 2 lane stretch of Rte 6. The shoulders are too narrow to pull off onto, so don't even think about it. There is one gravel driveway on the north side of the road that we pulled into. Hopefully the birds will still be there this weekend for others to marvel at and offer a second opinion on numbers and species makeup.

Craig Rieker