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Post by marshkeeper on May 11, 2009 12:53:41 GMT -5
i checked my marsh ( i own 70 acres of a 130 acre marsh )may 1st and counted 48 goslings. may 9th i counted 122.for the last 30 years we've averaged 40-50goslings. the high was 92 in the early 90's. if this took place over the whole state think of the goose numbers! buy more ammo. trap hunt fish and lobby 24/7
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Post by davie6 on May 11, 2009 13:08:38 GMT -5
One guy who goes through the public swamp near where i live said there were goslings hatched April 26th this year. i have only seen a handful of goslings this year but i never really go looking for them, just spot them from the road
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Post by Itrapny on May 11, 2009 17:24:25 GMT -5
They seem to be everywhere, and big clutches too
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Post by davie6 on May 11, 2009 18:13:45 GMT -5
the same guy said one female lost 2 goslings in a matter of days, at least she has 4 more. marshkeeper, what part of the state are you in?
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Post by marshkeeper on May 12, 2009 5:51:46 GMT -5
davie6 i 'm in the southern tier right along the pa border. when i do the survey i drive the roads around the marsh and never leave my car. the geese bring the babies to the grassy areas along the roads and they are easy to count. we lose more of the babies to red tail hawks and snapping turtles than any thing else. maybe 10%
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Woj
#3 Newhouse
Posts: 3,381
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Post by Woj on May 12, 2009 20:45:07 GMT -5
Well if this keeps up, then the law's consideration of taking the plugs out of the shotguns for the early nuisance season might come true.
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Post by davie6 on May 13, 2009 7:34:20 GMT -5
most of the goslings i see are on the grassy area next to the road also. no plug would be ok. if you get more than 3 shots at a flock and they are still in range, they deserve the extra shot coming at them. other than that i can see a lot of cripples that need to be run down.
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Post by marshkeeper on May 13, 2009 12:34:34 GMT -5
walked a trail in the marsh today and flushed a hen mallard off her nest. she did the semi killdeer thing- flew 50 feet and waddled along to draw me off. no wing drag though. i counted 9 eggs before i retreated back the way i came so as not to bother her too much. since the geese invasion the ducks have been few and far between.
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Post by rufus on May 13, 2009 18:23:29 GMT -5
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Post by Itrapny on May 13, 2009 21:04:25 GMT -5
That's a beautiful drake woody
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Post by marshkeeper on May 13, 2009 21:28:29 GMT -5
great pictures of both the woodie and fishing long legs
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Woj
#3 Newhouse
Posts: 3,381
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Post by Woj on May 14, 2009 12:28:33 GMT -5
Is it too late to hang wood duck boxes for the year? My Environmental Conservation class is in the process of building 30 of them and we will be done some time next week. We would like to hang them. Never done this before so I wasn't sure on the timing.
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Post by Itrapny on May 14, 2009 17:14:03 GMT -5
Too late for this year I believe, most have already nested
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Post by whistlerwhittler on May 15, 2009 10:49:17 GMT -5
Holy cow, I just scrolled down and realized that this site has a waterfowl forum! Those are great pictures! I too have seen lots of goslings already, seems like a bumper crop. It probably is too late to set up those woodie boxes now. The likelihood that they'll use the boxes now is lower. Plus you’ll just have to clean them out again this winter because some other critter will probably move into them. I’d store them, if you’ve got room, and then put them up in the late winter.
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Post by marshkeeper on May 15, 2009 14:06:43 GMT -5
If I can I like to get them up as soon as I build them. Letting them weather a little makes them more likely to be used. Of coarse its easier to put them up when you are standing on solid ice. Last winter I opened one up to clean and check on what had nested in it and a big old mouse jumped out right over my head. I wasn't quite ready for that and I almost fell over backward. One house had 6-8 dead swallows in it . I don't know how or why.
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Post by whistlerwhittler on May 15, 2009 23:28:30 GMT -5
You never know what you'll find in the boxes. I found a mother squirrel with a baby in one box and a screech owl in another.
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Post by marshkeeper on May 16, 2009 9:21:53 GMT -5
I had a hour to kill this morning so I drove around the marsh counting geese and gosling numbers. Here's the actual tally: the 1st #is parents , the 2nd # goslings in each group.2-3,2-4,2-7,2-0,2-2,2-2,2-3,2-4,2-9,2-6,2-4,2-3,2-2,7-0(bachelors),2-4,2-6,2-0,2-0,2-0,2-11,2-5,1-0(broken wing),and 6-30. This last group contains a dominate pair who every year take over the babies from two or more other parents. they also command the best territory in the marsh( it has the best grass). Some of the 2-0 were in high grass and I could not see any babies.
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Post by rufus on May 16, 2009 15:48:11 GMT -5
Nice count do you keep records frm one year to another?
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Post by marshkeeper on May 16, 2009 20:23:15 GMT -5
I have records for most of the last 20 years as to totals but not the above type of breakdown.
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