Notes from Field and Study 



i59 



15th the last pair paid a short visit, then 

 departed. 



Other winter visitors were Pine Siskins, 

 seen nearly every day during this past sea- 

 son, 11 counted at a time. After a heavy 

 icestorm, 2 White-winged Crossbills were 

 noted and 1 Pine Grosbeak. December 

 25 and February 22 a Robin appeared. 

 One Sharp-shinned Hawk, many Red- 

 polls, flocks of Fox Sparrows, and also 

 large numbers of Purple Finches were seen. 

 ( )f 1 nurse we had our usual winter feathered 

 friends. — (Miss) Florence de la Mon- 

 1 VGNE Bunce, President of Ridgewood 

 Branch of New Jersey Audubon Society. 



Migration of Ducks and Geese at 

 Winthrop, Iowa. 



November 11, 1919, — the first anniver- 

 sary of the signing of the armistice — was a 

 warm and beautiful day, after a cold and 

 windy night. Until then very few Ducks 

 had been seen migrating in the fall of 1919, 

 but that day thousands of them passed, 

 going southward. Early on the morning 

 of November 11, the first flocks of Ducks 

 were seen flying over, and they continued 

 to do so for several hours on that morning. 

 I was working not far from Buffalo Creek 

 at that time, so had a good chance to watch 

 the flocks of Ducks which were very fre- 

 quently passing overhead. 



My attention was first attracted by 

 three enormous flocks of about one thou- 

 sand birds in each. These flocks flew over 

 a section of Buffalo Creek which, appa- 

 rently, was to their liking, for they wheeled 

 at once, and at a slight angle, sailed to the 

 ground. When on the ground they 

 attracted other smaller passing flocks, 

 which also dropped to the ground. Nearly 

 all of the smaller flocks consisted of only 

 ten or fifteen Ducks, while some contained 

 but four or five. Once in a while a single 

 Duck would be seen flying a long ways 

 behind a flock. 



The place where most of the Ducks 

 alighted was only about a quarter of a mile 

 from where I was working, and they could 

 be plainly seen rising from the creek and 

 turning in the air, to sink again to the 



same spot. When these large flocks rose 

 into the air, they reminded me of nothing 

 so much as a huge swarm of bees. It was 

 a beautiful sight to watch — these thou- 

 sands of Ducks as they turned in the air, 

 the sun playing on their light wings and 

 white underparts. They stayed in this 

 vicinity for about two hours, I believe, but 

 I did not see them leave the place. 



During this period one of the largest fall 

 freshets in years had turned small Buffalo 

 Creek into a mighty river, covering all the 

 low pastures and land near it with its 

 water. These flooded ponds in the pastures 

 were frequented by the Ducks. Scores of 

 hunters went after the Ducks and killed 

 many at this season. About noon on 

 November 11, as I approached the creek, 

 two (shot gun) shots were fired and several 

 thousand Ducks flew up, not more than 

 five hundred yards from me, but I saw no 

 hunters. 



Most of the migrating Ducks passed 

 over during the morning of November 11. 

 I saw only one flock (of about three 

 hundred) fly over in the afternoon. 



I have watched the migrating Ducks for 

 several years and have never before seen 

 more than a dozen or two flocks in the fall. 



Very small numbers of Wild Geese were 

 seen migrating southward, through Buc- 

 hanan County in the fall of 1919. Whether 

 or not this was due to the increased num- 

 bers of shooters this year, I do not know, 

 but at any rate, the Geese appeared in very 

 small numbers compared to other years. 



The writer, wishing to gain some knowl- 

 edge of just how many Geese really did 

 migrate through this part of the country, 

 kept a careful record of each and every 

 flock and individual seen by him. 



Only about 500 Geese, roughly estimat- 

 ing, out of a dozen or so flocks flying by 

 da}', were recorded by the writer. This 

 does not include the flocks which flew over 

 at night, but it serves to show what exten- 

 sive shooting has done to the Canada 

 Goose. Not so many years ago the Geese 

 would fly south by the thousands in the 

 fall. The writer worked out of doors all 

 of the fall and had a good opportunity for 

 watching the movements^of the Geese. 



