Look Up

Hark! Er...Honk! What is that I hear? Thousands and thousands of Snow Geese arriving!

Until I moved to the FLX, I had never heard of Snow Geese let alone saw one or dozens or hundreds or thousands. Now, I see hundreds of them every winter. Usually, I see them in fields on River Road in Waterloo/Seneca Falls on my way to Sauder's.

This year I was treated to a truly amazing site. When I was leaving my store a few weeks ago, I heard tons of honking.....well goose chit chat. I looked up and was amazed at what I saw. There were hundreds and hundreds of geese flying overheard! Who knows how long they had been flying overhead before I went outside. I stood there in the parking lot for at least 4 minutes watching them.....4 minutes! By then thousands of geese flew over me.....and not one dropped anything on me!

I could see them over the city buildings....they were coming from the residential side of the city....looked like they were flying towards Seneca Lake....until they weren't.....seems like the head goose was taking a detour...maybe they wanted some wine? Or had to much wine? There are still grapes out on the vines at a few vineyards for the Finger Lakes Ice Wines.

As geese do, they shifted who's in the lead and changed direction.....closer to where they wanted to go.....another goose took charge and wow did they change course! They were now heading towards the lake. They had to loop around about 135 degrees when originally they needed to turn left like they're at Watkins Glen driving in the NASCAR race.

How do I know they were Snow Geese? Well, most of the time I was watching them, I thought they were Canadian Geese since we have an abundance of them. Seriously, if you ever want a Christmas Goose, go find a pond or lake or body of water around here and during the day you'll get yourself a goose. Fair warning, they're noisy! And they WILL charge! But they are beautiful. **Check out the NYS hunting regulations and the federal laws on protected species before hunting anything!!! And make sure you're not trespassing unless you have documented proof the property owner gave you permission to hunt their land.**

Back to the geese.....Once the goose who knew where they should be flying took charge, they kind of bottle necked so they were flying in tiers. They started coming down lower and lower. I could see them! They were all white with black wing tips! SNOW GEESE! They don't usually arrive until early January....and they were right on time! Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone with me so the photos aren't spectacular, but hey I got some!

They don't stick around long. They are on there way down to the Atlantic Coast...around NYC, Jersey, Maryland, down in that area along the coast.

Cornell has some interesting details about Snow Geese. Shouldn't be surprising with the bird lab they have, right?

This area has a huge massive migration system. The abundance of water and forests probably doesn't hurt! There are many nature preserves. state forests, national forests, protected wetlands, and even a national wildlife refuge - Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Here's a bit of the history of Montezuma from Wiki. Yes, you can go into Montezuma. There's a road and a exhibit building. They even look for volunteers to count different birds and eggs at different times of the year. It's a fascinating place! And on a good day you just might see a Bald Eagle!

Winter?

Mother Nature sure keeps us on our toes! Winter seems to have arrived in the FLX....well sort of. Cold has come in.....wind is blowing right now....but where's the snow? I know some areas actually have gotten snow that you can measure with a ruler. Not so much where I am in the FLX. I can measure by how much of the driveway I can still see!

Seems like true winter won't ever come. Just when you think it's not coming, the weather reports take a huge turn. Looks like we're supposed to get dumped on this week with Lake Effect Snow....yippie! Snow day anyone? Now before you go and figure out how to spend your day off......well is it really a day off? There's the whole shoveling/snowblowing/unburying the cars dance we all do. Wait and see if Mother Nature really does dump white stuff upon us before getting too excited. I've been let down a few times this winter already.

I can tell when the cold has kicked in. The little dogs cling to any blanket they can find. The two of them become super snugglers. Even at night, they burrow themselves under the comforter, blankets, and flannel sheets on our bed. They sleep on each other without any grumbles. When I'm home, you can find me under a pile of fleece blankets or a handmade afghan from my great grandmother......and you will find at least one little dog with me....the last 2 days you would find both of them stuck to me like someone rubber cemented them to my lap. And I wouldn't have it any other way!