They're Back! More Snow Geese

On Thursday, with 68 degree weather and beautiful billowing clouds blowing across a blue sky, Thompson Lake was wide open. Ducks and Coots were not as plentiful as they were just a few days ago, and we weren't seeing many geese flying over. However, as we approached the far southern end of the lake, we could see a long line of white about a mile out on the water. We turned around at the National Wildlife Refuge and stopped at the pull-off directly across from the line of white. Before I could get out of the car, the Snow Geese making up this long line started rising from the water. Scott and I estimate about 50,000 geese in this flock. It was fun to watch them rise and fall, rearranging themselves in the water, but not leaving.









A few lines of geese flew off from the flock.





A few Coots came in for a landing near the edge of the lake.



Looking North from Pumphouse Road pull-off towards the boat ramp, you can see the down power lines.



The power poles along the former Pump House Road that had been held up by the ice have fallen under water.



Along Prairie Road, new power poles bring power to The Nature Conservancy.

Snow Geese Today, Gone Tomorrow

Yesterday the air in Fulton County was full of geese, mostly Snow Geese, long lines of geese in all directions joined up into one huge mass of geese circling around over Thompson Lake, which was beginning to open up in the center of the lake. They came in lower and lower, and I was sure they were going to land, but at the last moment they changed their mind and flew off to the west. When they circled back over the lake they were sky high again.

A storm blew through over night, leaving clear blue skies today, and not a goose to be seen.  I'm glad I went out yesterday and didn't wait for the sunny weather!















Large trucks are a constant on IL Route 78, the levee highway bisecting the Emiquon Preserve. They create a sudden wind when they pass while I'm on the side of the highway photographing waterfowl, and one caused my hat to fly off my head before I could grab it.  I thought it landed in the creek/channel that runs beside the highway, but I found it on the other side of the car.  It is my favorite hat, too!



The flooded fields near Prairie Road on the West side of IL 78 were covered with waterfowl, mostly Greater White-fronted Geese and Mallards, 10s of thousands of them, far out in the field.



A lone coyote roamed the frozen fields with the geese and ducks.


At Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, south of the Emiquon Preserve, we found a pair of Hooded Mergansers.


We also found two Bald Eagles flying over the refuge, high in the sky.

Snow Geese in March!

Snow Geese are starting to show up in large numbers. I started seeing them circling the skies last week. Waters were mostly frozen over. The Snow Geese, along with smaller numbers of Canada and Greater White-Fronted Geese, were everywhere we looked in the sky at several points as they circled around looking for open water. Some were so high you could barely see them. Others flew lower, allowing for better shots of the flying fowl.






Mallards were also showing up in open fields.






Early in the week, I drove across the river to check on the water conditions at Chautauqua. The lake was frozen on both sides of the cross dike except right around the edges.  It seemed pretty desolate. No birds could be seen from the car.

Looking south:


Looking North:


I returned home, driving along Thompson Lake, which currently stretches from levee to levee at the Emiquon Preserve. It was frozen and covered with snow except for a few small areas. I found some Goldeneyes swimming far out on the open area.






The ice had big cracks running across it where it has been moving. Along the shore the ice has been forced up from the shifting, bringing dirt with it all along the edge of the lake.


Looking south from the former Pump House Road pull-off, you can see that the ice and wind have knocked down the power lines that bring power to The Nature Conservancy's Emiquon Office.  They were without power for weeks.


The boat Ramp was mostly under ice:


Looking south from Clark Road:


Looking north from Clark Road:


Looking west through the trees along the bluff west of Clark Road:

Snow Again in February

This has been a very snowy winter.  We've had snow on the ground all month long.




A pair of mallards and a hybrid followed the domestic ducks around the yard at the corner of Dickson Mounds Road and County 9, across from the Rare Fish Pond at Emiquon. 


An opossum hunted in the corn field along Prairie Road.


Looking back at Emiquon from Clark Road, you can see how Hwy 78 turns as it winds down the bluff.


A deer posed briefly before bounding across Prairie Road and on up the bluff.


A small herd of deer headed out across frozen Thompson Lake on the other side of the trees growing along a creek feeding the lake.


I frequently find hawks along Clark Road. Not as many this winter as last year, perhaps because of the snow cover for most of January and February.

More Snow in January

We have had a lot of snow this winter.  In January the trend continued.  Dickson Creek was covered in the tracks of the animals using the frozen creek for a highway up and down the bluff.

Near Coal Creek a couple of deer were grazing in the snow.

A cardinal singing made me think of spring, in spite of the blanket of snow.

I stopped to take a photo of the tree on Prairie Road, just before the final turn to IL 78.