Date: 3/3/23 10:28 am From: Alyssa Johnson <alyssajohnson0...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Snow Geese?
Hi everyone,
I’ve been out in the Complex the last 2 afternoons. Most of the marshes, including the muck flats along 31 are frozen still. I found a large flock (approximately 100,000) on Gravel Road behind the Tyre Municipality Building yesterday about 5 pm. Carncross Road was good for swans (several hundred likely mostly Tundra based on what I was hearing), and thousands of ducks including Northern Pintail, Mallard, American Black Ducks, American Wigeon… maybe more. On the south side of the road, a lot of that closest field was open. I could see beyond there must have been holes in the ice here and there where the birds were concentrating, but most of it is not easy to view because of distance and vegetation. I didn’t get to Morgan Rd, but I’m guessing the units between the parking lot and river are mostly frozen still. That’s been a good spot in years past for eagles on the ice and divers. I also didn’t make it to VanDyne Spoor Rd, but guessing similar conditions.
To anyone who isn’t familiar with Carncross and VanDyne Spoor Roads, they are seasonally maintained. So the last 2 days they were a little slushy and muddy but I made it fine. After tonight/tomorrow, I wouldn’t risk it personally. When I worked at Montezuma, occasionally I’d answer a call of “help! come save me” and all I could do was suggest Reed’s Towing.
I am about to drive the entire west side of Cayuga to see if I can find the snow goose ice burg I expect is floating out there. If the marshes stay frozen, the geese will likely continue to stage in “smaller” groups in ag fields and on the lake then move on. But if the marshes melt, especially along Route 31, I bet they will dump in there and stage in numbers north of 500k. Last year it was estimated at the muck flats, at one time, 600-800,000 snow geese, 3000 tundras, and tens of thousands of ducks!
Final thought- if anyone is interested in a guided tour, I just started working through Airbnb as an “Experience Host”! I don’t want to overstep and self promote too much here, but if you email me privately, I’d be happy to share more information about how that works and my availability.
