October is an excellent month to visit Goose Pond Sanctuary to enjoy nature. Currently, the water is very low, the pond might even be dry by the end of the month. It is rare to have ideal shorebird habitat and some water for waterfowl, but recently, Goose Pond provided habitat for both.
One frequent birder at the sanctuary is Spike Millington, the Vice President-International Asia at the International Crane Foundation, who visited at least seven times in the first two weeks of the month. We are highlighting his October 12, 2022 eBird report. Spike birded from 4:00–5:30 p.m., reporting 43 species and 2,247 individuals within a mile.
Pat Ready’s photograph above shows a “Brandt-like goose” hanging with three Snow Geese on October 13 at the NW corner of Goose Pond. Snow Geese come in two colors, white and blue.
Waterfowl were prominent on the list, with twelve species found: 4 Snow Geese (3 white adults and 1 gray young bird), 16 Greater White-fronted Geese, at least 5 Cackling Geese, 1,200 Canada Geese, 50 Blue-winged Teal, 25 Northern Shovelers, 8 Gadwall, 2 American Black Ducks, 105 Northern Pintails, and 200 Green-winged Teal.
Shorebirds have been on their fall migration for over three months, nearing the tail end of their passage through our state. Spike found 65 American Golden-Plover, 60 Killdeers, 1 Least Sandpiper, 51 Pectoral Sandpipers, 5 Long-billed Dowitchers, 8 Wilson’s Snipe, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, and 25 Lesser Yellowlegs.
Spike is also an expert on identification of sparrows and reported 15 White-crowned Sparrows, 8 White-throated Sparrows, 10 Savannah Sparrows, 10 Song Sparrows, and 4 Lincoln’s Sparrows. All the sparrows are heading south while the 5 Dark-eyed Juncos on the list may spend the winter with us.
Other birds of interest were 105 Sandhill Cranes, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 American Kestrel (possibly wearing a band), 2 American Pipit (it would be interesting to know where they spent the summer), and 2 Palm Warblers.
Usually the geese, Mallard, and Sandhill Crane numbers are highest just before dark, after they return from feeding in the fields.
Sandhill Cranes flying over Goose Pond Sanctuary near dusk (photo by Monica Hall).
It is not easy to record a high count for an individual species. However, Spike had three Goose Pond high counts in October: 11 Long-billed Dowitchers on October 9, 75 Savannah Sparrows (a big flock north of the east pond) on October 2, and 9 Lincoln’s Sparrows also on October 2. All three of these are also high counts for Columbia County out of the 23,100 complete checklists submitted in the county!
As of this writing, there have been 3,874 Goose Pond checklists submitted on eBird totaling up to 230 species. The Goose Pond Sanctuary Bird List is at 271 species, with many of the 41 species were seen before eBird arrived on the scene. However, eBird takes older reports and we will be working on getting more data into the system.
If you plan to visit, go to the Wisconsin eBird website and see what bird watchers have been reporting. Also checkout the Goose Pond Cam to see the water levels and wetland bird activity. The last hour and a half of daylight is usually excellent.
Thanks to Spike and everyone that submits checklists to help us track bird usage at Goose Pond! If you are not familiar with eBird please check it out. It is a great way to record your outings and keep track of the species you find.
written by Mark Martin and Susan Foote-Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary resident managers
Cover photo of four Snow Geese by Al Roske.
