the Way of the Turtle

GEESE DESCENDING IN THE DARKNESS...
1 Mile Walk at Ooms Conservation Area
Sunday, December 9, 2012

So, with Sachuest Point NWR closed - what to do, what to do... had the TomTom map the route home, then tried to find an Audubon sanctuary that was listed as being near that route, but didn't have enough address info to pull it up. Considered heading back southwest along the coast and stopping at either Ninigret, Barn Island, or Bluff Point - but that route would have added another 30-40 minutes just to the drive. In the end I decided to try visiting Quabbin Park (a park at the southern end of the immense Quabbin Reservoir in central MA) but then was tired enough during the drive that I decided to pass on the extra 30-40 minutes of driving that would require and maybe just do a quick side trip to Ooms on the way home.

Arrived just after sunset, still enough light to see by. Not many geese on the pond. The beavers have been busy - some new trees chomped since my last visit during daylight. And the recent rain has some of the paths pretty squishy.

I started up the hill to the gazebo as it got a bit darker, then heard some geese approaching from the air - a small group, maybe a dozen, but it was funny the racket they made once they landed and the various groups started honking to each other (perhaps establishing some form of "my side/your side"?)  As it got darker several much larger groups flew in an landed - couldn't see them land, but I could hear the splash and the sudden increase in honks. By the time I headed back to the car I'd guess there were a couple of hundred geese on the pond.

I have to wonder... were the geese who flew in after dark off getting food in one of the fields nearby, or were they groups that are in the midst of migrating who flew as many miles as they could before dark and then stopped at the pond for the night?

JMH