Date: 12/24/25 7:53 am From: Tom and Ann <annntom...> Subject: [IN-BIRD-L] Snow Geese
We had a major flight of Snow Geese come over our area yesterday. Upon arriving home around 3 PM yesterday I heard an unfamiliar sound. I finally found a huge V of Snow Geese headed West. The birds were flying so high they were hard to find and count, especially looking up through the trees. I guessed there were well over a hundred. Shortly thereafter another wave came through probably of equal number. I was in and out moving firewood so did not see all of the waves. The final group I saw was the smallest by a large factor and I still counted at least 40 birds. While not coming by on Christmas count day they were at least within count week.
We had one of the least productive counts that Ann and I have had since moving back to Indiana 25 years ago. We only had 30 species for the day the most interesting of which were the two Meadowlarks we saw in a field with 30 Starlings. Also of note were the 10 Common Mergansers that have been hanging around since the lake iced over, the Red breasted Nuthatch that has been a regular at the feeder for a couple of weeks and the immature Bald Eagle that showed up recently. In addition to the Geese we had two Mute Swans and 6 Ring necked Ducks visit during the icy period during count week.
The Johnson County Christmas count was held on Dec 21st.
Tom Hougham
On Lamb Lake in SW Johnson Co
