On Thursday, my brother Taber, Wayne Benoit and I made a pilgrimage to Dead Creek in hopes of seeing the fall snow goose migration spectacle. It was a beautiful, late fall day; the sun shining through the scattered cloud cover creating a constantly changing
interplay of light and shadow on the still color-splashed Green Mountains to the east and the Adirondacks across Lake Chaplain to the west.
A few miles south of Vergennes we were treated to the awe-inspiring sight
of a long "v" of perhaps 700-to-800 Canada geese beating into the southerly headwind.
Arriving in Addison and turning onto VT Rt. 17
heading west, we could see in one of the fields, a large white square. The snow geese were out in force, perhaps 2500, and just two hundred yards from our vantage point in the viewing area parking lot. We had just unpacked and set up our equipment, when the flock began to rise and then wheeled off to a low lying area farther out in the fields becoming no longer visible. They would stay there until at least 1:30 when we left, thereby disappointing numbers of people who stopped and asked whether we had seen the snow geese. Had we arrived but 15 minutes later, we too would have been thwarted. Another birder on site with a high-quality camera set up reported there were a few Ross's geese mixed in. We could not confirm that.
The rest of the day had mixed success. The Brilyea Access had green-winged teal but little else. The long-billed dowitcher seen by Spencer Hardy was there which, with a greater yellowlegs, comprised the full extent of the day's shorebird activity. Raptors included two bald eagles, a red-tailed hawk, an American kestrel and a northern harrier. Sparrows were numerous but their constant movement made identification
difficult. Mostly we saw song, Savannah and white-throateds. A full checklist can be viewed at
the link below.
Better results are hoped for when NH Audubon's Mascoma Chapter makes its annual journey over to Dead Creek on Saturday, November 2nd.
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15439454
Blake Allison
Lyme, NH 03768-3322