[lcbno] *Fwd: [obol] Migrating Geese
- From: Range Bayer <range.bayer@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lincoln Co. Birding & Nature Observing (LCBNO)" <lcbno@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 May 2023 20:37:09 -0700
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Roy Lowe <roy.loweiii@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, May 22, 2023 at 5:53 PM
Subject: [obol] Migrating Geese
To: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
This morning from 07:15 to 10:00 flocks of northbound western Canada geese
were streaming over the beach between Seal Rock and Waldport. These flocks
are comprised of nonbreeding or failed breeders migrating north to undergo
complete wing molt where they are flightless for a month or more. This
molting flight occurs from mid-May to the first week of June annually and
occurs after all arctic and subarctic geese have departed the area with the
exception of some stragglers. The flocks can range in size from a few
birds to more than 30 and these “honkers” are usually at lower altitudes
and very vocal. I don’t know where these birds are headed. When I started
documenting this 3 decades ago, I thought perhaps they may be going to the
lower Columbia River where there is big water and lots of marsh, islands
and other habitats where they could be somewhat secluded during the
flightless period. In recent years, a few local sightings of collared
western Canada geese that were marked on Vancouver Island, BC has me
wondering if “our” geese are going further north than I have imagined.
If you look closely at these migrating flocks, you can see that some are
already beginning to lose primary feathers. Also, sometimes a flock will
contain a cackler or two. The attached photo shows a cackler and a
double-crested cormorant in the slipstream. I can’t remember seeing a
cormorant in one of these flocks in the past.
Roy
Roy Lowe
Waldport, OR
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/rloweiii/
Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/
[image: 3S1A7696©.jpg]
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