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Greylag Goose update - Nov 23 2010 Richard Blacquiere, Merv Cormier, Jean and I drove down to the Truro area this morning to search for the Greylag Goose that has been feeding there with Canada Geese since at least early November. We had a good day and saw lots of geese, but had no luck with finding the Greylag. At a farm on the Shore Road we had clear looks at about 250 CANADA GEESE, then distant but clear views of other small flocks as we covered the area as far to the east as Route 313 and the gravel pit ponds there. We probably saw a total of 500 Canada Geese well and felt confident the Greylag wasn't among them. We then visited a farm on the McWilliams Road where we scanned through at least 1,500 more CANADA GEESE in a stubble field on the east side, near the end of the road. Although the farmer gave us permission to look from the front of a barn on the edge of the field, the undulating ground combined with the length of the stubble made it impossible to clearly see all of the birds present. We spent about an hour studying them carefully but much of the time all we could see of about half of their number was heads and necks that appeared and then disappeared as they fed. I'm sure others in lower areas of the field were not visible at all. A side show to the clamor in the field was a steady stream of ducks, mostly MALLARDS and a few BLACKS that came and went from the nearby river. Suddenly many flushed wildly as a large PEREGRINE FALCON stooped and very nearly caught a hen Mallard before disappearing "empty handed", to the east. Obviously the hawk wasn't very hungry. There were also two adult RED-TAILED HAWKS that perched at various sites in the area, watching all that was going on but not attempting to actively catch anything with feathers. Seems the 2,000 or so geese remain in the area, so I expect the Greylag is still around. Unfortunately we didn't see any other birders with whom we could compare notes or get additional information from. We had a pleasant day with reasonably moderate temperatures, no wind and plenty of birds. One can't ask for better conditions than that near the end of November! We also saw another three or four RED-TAILED HAWKS perched and hunting at various points along the way. Jim Wilson New Brunswick
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