Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 21

and are being spotted in quarries in the Lehigh Valley, where spring-fed limestone waters remain ice free for longer periods of time. The snow geese need not only open fields to feed in, but prefer open water to roost in. They can tolerate ice roosting for a number of days, even weeks, but then the threat from predators increases. Binder occasionally hears quite a ruckus on the frozen lake at night, knowing that something had the birds stirred up. The birds have been known to return to the Atlantic Coast and the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay areas if winter rears its ugly head again after warming up. I am curious how the staff estimates the numbers and Binder explains that he and his colleagues try to get a look at the birds from strategic spots at first light, before the birds take flight, by using spotting scopes. It’s important to view the flocks from a vantage point higher than the birds themselves, viewed from the side a flock is difficult to estimate, from above you can get an idea of how much area they cover. Through experience, after a while you get a

pretty good idea of what ten thousand snow geese look like, then you can estimate their total number by those increments. Or, if the birds are spread out, you can use “field of view” with binoculars. Estimate how many are in your field of view, say 5,000, then pan across the birds counting in that increment. To keep in practice, they sometimes start at the edge of a flock and count 10 birds, noting how much space they cover. Then a hundred, then a thousand. It’s surprising how small an area perhaps 250 snow geese will occupy, they are densely flocked birds. Binder stressed that the numbers they provide to the public are gross estimates and subject to rapid and dramatic change. The estimates are probably conservative, no matter how many snow geese you think you’re looking at there are probably more. They no longer spend a lot of time trying to get exact counts, as the numbers seen here are not necessarily indicative of population trends; they simply indicate how many birds are spending time here in a given year. The only reason the staff currently attempts to get estimates is that people want to know, and the staff is curious as well.

VIEWING and photographing snow geese at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management area are popular activities during the winter.

FEBRUARY  2012 

21



Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012
History of the Whitetail
Snowshoe Cottontails
Two Cat Night
It Pays To Be Nice
The Trap
Wildlife Leadership Academy
Snow Geese
The First Season Comes Only Once
Remembering Uncle Mark’s Place
11-11-11 — A Year Later
A Well Deserved Thank You
Field Notes
Conservation News
Off the Wire
Another View
The Naturalist’s Eye
Straight from the Bowstring
Fun Game
Lock, Stock & Barrel
Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - History of the Whitetail
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Snowshoe Cottontails
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Two Cat Night
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - It Pays To Be Nice
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - The Trap
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Wildlife Leadership Academy
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Snow Geese
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - The First Season Comes Only Once
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Remembering Uncle Mark’s Place
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 11-11-11 — A Year Later
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - A Well Deserved Thank You
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Field Notes
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Conservation News
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Off the Wire
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Another View
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 50
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - The Naturalist’s Eye
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Straight from the Bowstring
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Fun Game
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Lock, Stock & Barrel
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 64a
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 64b
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - Cover4
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