I took a quick lap around central Aroostook County this afternoon to look for the rare geese (Barnacle, Pink-footed, White-fronted, Cackling) and came up empty.
-- Again, I had little time to spare and got a late start (2 PM). Both Christina Reservoir and Puddledock Pond were almost devoid of geese and Limestone wasn't showing much either. With the dark, gloomy skies today, I think they departed for the fields a bit early. I haven't heard from any birders who tried to find the celebrity geese today, but I think they are probably still in the area.
____________________________________________
Lots of people are asking for specific directions. For those thinking of making the journey north here's some help... (Apologies to all others for the long message):
There are at least 50,000 geese in the area now and they feed somewhere in the 70,000+ acres of agricultural fields in central Aroostook co. The best chance to locate and get good looks at these birds is to find them on their roosting ponds. The geese flocks typically fly from their overnight roosting ponds shortly after dawn and will feed in the potato and grain fields for several hours. By mid-late morning, the flock begins to return to the midday refugia where they drink, sleep, preen etc. (generally laze about) until a late afternoon snack run back out to the fields. They return to the night roost ponds (sometimes different than day roost spots) at dark thirty. Rain (water available in the field), temperature, disturbance and even the moon-phase can mess with this pattern, but it generally holds for most flocks.
Unless you spend the night in the area, its unlikely you'll be able to catch the morning flight. "Southern" Mainers can take it easy and shoot for arrival by 9:30 or 10. Presque Isle/Fort Fairfield is about 2.5 to 3 hours north of Bangor. This will allow several hours of birding at the peak hours when they are likely to be at the roosting sites where they were found.
The sites to check are:
Christina Reservoir in southern-most Fort Fairfield off of the Easton Town Line (aka Conant) Road. The Barnacle and White-fronted were seen here in past few days. The pond is about .5 mile off of Route 1A. Access to the area is on the south side of the lake. You will see a big, scary NO ACCESS sign erected years ago by McCain Foods, but this does not apply to birders. We are welcome to access the site and bird. (If you are uncomfortable with this, you can go to the McCain Foods Plant on the Richardson Road and ask permission to access the area personally from the guard at the gate.) Common sense will dictate where you park. If its wet, I recommend parking near the warning sign and walking up onto the dike. (We don't want to rut it up any more than it already is). There are no guardrails or places to turn around on the dike and several vehicles have ended up in the lake.
Hunting is allowed here and the geese are wary when roosting on the pond. Its entirely possible to approach too closely and flush the entire mass. Bring a scope, you'll need it.
Lake Josephine is located just southwest of Christina Res. and is also visible from the Town Line Road. Access is from the east side off of the Station Road onto the partially paved Johnson Road. The rare geese haven't been seen here lately, but its so close to Christina they might show up there at any time. (Again you'll see some NO ACCESS signs). Here too, if its wet and muddy its better to go on foot.
Puddledock Pond is reached by returning out to Route 1 A and continuing north to the town of Fort Fairfield. The pond is located in-town and is reached by travelling down Main Street eastward through town and then turning right on Dorsey Road. The pond and a small park are immediately on the right. This has been the location of the Pink-footed Goose but White-fronted seem to like the pond too.
Large numbers of geese also roost in the Aroostook River near Fort Fairfield. Nearly 2000 have been loafing on a mud bar just upstream of the bridge. These can be examined by crossing the bridge and turning left on the North Caribou Road. There is plenty of parking in a park here and you can scope the flock from the park. Sometimes the birds are found upstream for about a mile.
Another large assemblage of geese is often found downstream a couple miles off the Russell Road. To go here one needs only take a right once across the Aroostook River bridge and then proceed down the road past the Riverbend Cemetary to the place where McDonald brook empties into the Aroostook River. Water is low now and the geese are hanging around the island in the river. Don't look too far downstream or you'll be counting birds for your Canada list.
The Mill Pond (aka Limestone Stream Impoundment) in Limestone is accessed by again following Route 1A north. This pond recently hosted a Cackling and Snow Goose but has had Ross's, White-fronts and Barnacle Goose in years past. The pond is on the north end of town where Main Street (Route 1A) intersects with Route 89. Since this is a protected area, the geese will sometimes fill the pond in mid-day.
Other spots worth checking in the area are Trafton Lake off the Ward Road and Malabeam Lake on the west side of town.
Trafton is a larger pond and the geese can be quite distant from the boat launch area at the park on the northeast corner.
Malabeam Lake is a small lake located on the edge of the Aroostook NWR and is a bit tricky to locate. From the light on Route 89, go north on the West Gate (aka Sawyer) Road and take a right into the Loring Development Authority at the old Air Force Base gate (unstaffed) on Northcutt Road. Take the first right (south) onto West Virginia Road and follow this south and then take the first right down to the lake. The road dead ends at the lake and the best viewing spot. Thousands of geese will roost here at times.
While there haven't been any spiffy geese sighted here yet, Collins Pond in Caribou is still my favorite of the area. its a small pond in downtown Caribou yet thousands of geese will pack into it in the middle of the day. Here too are lots of other waterfowl and a good possibility of seeing some shorebirds too. A small park located at the end of Roberts Street off of South Main is the place to go. A pond-side roofed picnic shelter is a welcome amenity during rainy days....
Please let me know if you find the birds so we can keep updated. If you are around on Saturday Oct 18, Aroostook Birders Club will be leading a trip to seek out all of these rare geese and any other goodies we can find. We will be meeting at 8 AM at Collins pond and all are welcome to join us. Email me for more info.
Good Luck
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
0 comments:
Post a Comment