A Ross’s Goose the Easy Way

The Ross’s Goose (Anser rossii) is a rare but regular transient in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  This species nests in the arctic tundra of northernmost central Canada and winters in the valleys of California and in parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, primarily near the northwestern rim of the Gulf of Mexico.  A population also spends the colder months in western Texas, New Mexico, and an adjacent portion of north-central Mexico.  The Ross’s Goose looks like a tiny version of a Snow Goose and is most often detected among flocks of these latter birds during their late winter visits to our area.  Finding a single Ross’s Goose among thousands of Snow Geese can oft times be an insurmountable challenge, so it’s nice when one decides to drop by in a crowd within which it is much more discernible.

Snow Geese and Canada Geese
A couple of Snow Geese along with Canada Geese and other waterfowl seen this afternoon from the Willow Point overlook at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Ross's Goose with Canada Geese
A petite little Ross’s Goose seen late this afternoon among several hundred Canada Geese north of Willow Point.
Ross's Goose and Canada Geese
The Ross’s Goose was last seen walking across the ice to the distant northern shoreline of the lake where it and the Canada Geese were later flushed skyward by several Bald Eagles.

In case you were wondering—yes, despite the ice on Middle Creek’s lake, the Sandhill Cranes are still being seen in the vicinity of Willow Point.

Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes returning from a short foray into the grasslands north of the lake at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Sandhill Cranes
On approach to the flats north of Willow Point.
Sandhill Cranes
Coming in for a landing.
Sandhill Cranes
Touchdown!

Seven Reasons to Visit Middle Creek’s Willow Point Right Now

Here are 7 reasons why you, during the coming week or so, should consider spending some time at Willow Point overlooking the lake at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.

REASON NUMBER ONE— Wildlife is at close quarters along the trail leading from the parking lot to Willow Point…

Eastern Gray Squirrel
Eastern Gray Squirrels are common and easily seen along the edge of the woods.
Eastern Bluebirds
Eastern Bluebirds are investigating nest boxes and may presently be using them as communal roost sites during cold, windy nights.
Hermit Thrush
A Hermit Thrush was just one of the songbirds we found foraging along the edge of Willow Point Trail.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Look carefully and you may see one or more species of woodpeckers in the mature trees.  We found this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in a maple near the trail’s terminus at the Willow Point viewing area.

REASON NUMBER TWO— A variety of waterfowl species are lingering on ice-free sections of the lake surrounding Willow Point…

Tundra Swans and Canada Geese
Noisy flocks of Tundra Swans and Canada Geese on open water at Willow Point.
American Black Ducks
American Black Ducks on a fly by.
Mallards
Mallard drakes near the point.
Green-winged Teal
A small flock of Green-winged Teal feeding among the Mallards.
Northern Shovelers
A flock of Northern Shovelers has been frequenting the shallows along the south side of Willow Point for at least two weeks.
Common Mergansers
Common Mergansers diving for benthic fare.

REASON NUMBER THREE— Bald Eagles are conspicuous, easily seen and heard…

Bald Eagles
Bald Eagles on tree stumps in the lake.
Bald Eagle
A hatch-year/juvenile Bald Eagle on a glide over Willow Point.

REASON NUMBER FOUR— Northern Harriers have been making close passes over Willow Point as they patrol Middle Creek’s grasslands while hunting voles…

Northern Harrier
A female Northern Harrier over Willow Point.
Northern Harrier
A hatch-year/juvenile Northern Harrier gazing over a field of goldenrod adjacent to Willow Point.
Northern Harrier
Hatch-year/juvenile Northern Harrier patrolling a field of goldenrod and preparing to pounce.
Northern Harrier
A Northern Harrier buoyantly flying past Willow Point just prior to sunset.

REASON NUMBER FIVE— The annual observance of the White-tailed Deity holidays may be drawing to a close for the gasoline and gunpowder gang, but for the supreme ungulates, the rituals that lead to consummation of their unions are still ongoing…

White-tailed Deity
Mystical White-tailed Deities hiding in plain sight near Willow Point.
White-tailed Deity
Having so far survived the ceremonies of sacrifice practiced by worshipers clad in vibrant orange attire, these divine idols agree to a more civilized ritual, a gentlemanly duel.

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity
…then it’s off to find the fair maidens.

REASON NUMBER SIX— Sandhill Cranes are still being seen from Willow Point…

Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes have been spending time on dry portions of the lake bed and in grasslands and croplands to the north.

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes
These Sandhill Cranes could depart from Middle Creek’s refuge at any time, particularly if the deep freeze returns to make feeding more difficult.  You’ll want to visit soon if you want to see them.

REASON NUMBER SEVEN— The crowds that will accompany the arrival of thousands of Snow Geese in early 2025 can make visiting Willow Point a stressful experience.  Visit now to see these birds and mammals at Willow Point and you might just have the place all to yourself.  Then you can spend your time looking through the flocks of waterfowl and other birds for unusual new arrivals instead of wading through a sea of humanity.

White-crowned Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area’s Willow Point.

Photo of the Day

Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes sometimes stray east from their primary autumn migration routes that take them from marshland breeding grounds in the western Great Lakes and central Canada to wintering areas in and near Florida.  These birds, 4 of 19 seen at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area over the weekend, may have been blown into the lower Susquehanna valley last week by the strong northwest winds that brought sub-freezing temperatures to the eastern states and lake-effect snows to counties bordering Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  Migrating Sandhill Cranes can fly at altitudes that make them imperceptible to us on the ground, and can easily get redirected by atmospheric jets with speeds of 60 miles per hour or more.  Then again, limited numbers of Sandhill Cranes have, in recent years, been expanding their nesting range east into bogs and other wetlands at scattered locations in northern Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and eastern Canada.  Ice and snow cover could have prompted some of these birds to finally move south to pay us a visit.  Incidentally, a separate flock of 38 Sandhill Cranes were seen over the weekend just south of the Susquehanna watershed on backwaters of upper Chesapeake Bay at Gunpowder Falls State Park in Harford County, Maryland.  These cranes have been present since at least November 25th and may, like birds in previous years, spend the winter.

Want Healthy Floodplains and Streams? Want Clean Water? Then Make Room for the Beaver

I’m worried about the beaver.  Here’s why.

Imagine a network of brooks and rivulets meandering through a mosaic of shrubby, sometimes boggy, marshland, purifying water and absorbing high volumes of flow during storm events.  This was a typical low-gradient stream in the valleys of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed in the days prior to the arrival of the trans-Atlantic human migrant.  Then, a frenzy of trapping, tree chopping, mill building, and stream channelization accompanied the east to west waves of settlement across the region.  The first casualty: the indispensable lowlands manager, the North American Beaver (Castor canadensis).

Beaver Traps
Nineteenth-century beaver traps on display in the collection of the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.  Soon after their arrival, Trans-Atlantic migrants (Europeans) established trade ties to the trans-Beringia migrants (“Indians”) already living in the lower Susquehanna valley and recruited them to cull the then-abundant North American Beavers.  By the early 1700s, beaver populations (as well as numbers of other “game” animals) were seriously depleted, prompting the Conoy, the last of the trans-Beringia migrants to reside on the lower Susquehanna, to disperse.  The traps pictured here are samples of the types which were subsequently used by the European settlers to eventually extirpate the North American Beaver from the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed during the 1800s.

Without the widespread presence of beavers, stream ecology quickly collapsed.  Pristine waterways were all at once gone, as were many of their floral and faunal inhabitants.  It was a streams-to-sewers saga completed in just one generation.  So, if we really want to restore our creeks and rivers, maybe we need to give the North American Beaver some space and respect.  After all, we as a species have yet to build an environmentally friendly dam and have yet to fully restore a wetland to its natural state.  The beaver is nature’s irreplaceable silt deposition engineer and could be called the 007 of wetland construction—doomed upon discovery, it must do its work without being noticed, but nobody does it better.

North American Beaver diorama on display in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.
North American Beaver diorama on display in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.  Beavers were reintroduced to the Susquehanna watershed during the second half of the twentieth century.
A beaver dam on a small stream in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
A beaver dam and pond on a small stream in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
Floodplain Wetlands Managed by North American Beavers
Beaver dams not only create ponds, they also maintain shallow water levels in adjacent areas of the floodplain creating highly-functional wetlands that grow the native plants used by the beaver for food.  These ecosystems absorb nutrients and sediments.  Prior to the arrival of humans, they created some of the only openings in the vast forests and maintained essential habitat for hundreds of species of plants as well as animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds.  Without the beaver, many of these species could not, and in their absence did not, exist here.
The beaver lodge provides shelter from the elements and predators for a family of North American Beavers.
Their newly constructed lodge provides shelter from the elements and from predators for a family of North American Beavers.
Sandhill Cranes Visit a Beaver-managed Floodplain in the lower Susquehanna valley
Floodplains managed by North American Beavers can provide opportunities for the recovery of the uncommon, rare, and extirpated species that once inhabited the network of streamside wetlands that stretched for hundreds of miles along the waterways of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
Great Blue Heron
A wintering Great Blue Heron is attracted to a beaver pond by the abundance of fish in the rivulets that meander through its attached wetlands.
Sora Rail in Beaver Pond
Beaver Ponds and their attached wetlands provide nesting habitat for uncommon birds like this Sora rail.
Wood Duck feeding on Lesser Duckweed in Beaver Pond
Lesser Duckweed grows in abundance in beaver ponds and Wood Ducks are particularly fond of it during their nesting cycle.
Sandhill Cranes feeding among Woolgrass in a Beaver Pond
Beaver dams maintain areas of wet soil along the margins of the pond where plants like Woolgrass sequester nutrients and contain runoff while providing habitat for animals ranging in size from tiny insects to these rare visitors, a pair of Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis).
Sandhill Cranes feeding among Woolgrass in a floodplain maintained by North American Beavers.
Sandhill Cranes feeding among Woolgrass in a floodplain maintained by North American Beavers.

Few landowners are receptive to the arrival of North American Beavers as guests or neighbors.  This is indeed unfortunate.  Upon discovery, beavers, like wolves, coyotes, sharks, spiders, snakes, and so many other animals, evoke an irrational negative response from the majority of people.  This too is quite unfortunate, and foolish.

North American Beavers spend their lives and construct their dams, ponds, and lodges exclusively within floodplains—lands that are going to flood.  Their existence should create no conflict with the day to day business of human beings.  But humans can’t resist encroachment into beaver territory.  Because they lack any basic understanding of floodplain function, people look at these indispensable lowlands as something that must be eliminated in the name of progress.  They’ll fill them with soil, stone, rock, asphalt, concrete, and all kinds of debris.  You name it, they’ll dump it.  It’s an ill-fated effort to eliminate these vital areas and the high waters that occasionally inundate them.  Having the audacity to believe that the threat of flooding has been mitigated, buildings and poorly engineered roads and bridges are constructed in these “reclaimed lands”.  Much of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed has now been subjected to over three hundred years-worth of these “improvements” within spaces that are and will remain—floodplains.  Face it folks, they’re going to flood, no matter what we do to try to stop it.  And as a matter of fact, the more junk we put into them, the more we displace flood waters into areas that otherwise would not have been impacted!  It’s absolute madness.

By now we should know that floodplains are going to flood.  And by now we should know that the impacts of flooding are costly where poor municipal planning and negligent civil engineering have been the norm for decades and decades.  So aren’t we tired of hearing the endless squawking that goes on every time we get more than an inch of rain?  Imagine the difference it would make if we backed out and turned over just one quarter or, better yet, one half of the mileage along streams in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed to North American Beavers.  No more mowing, plowing, grazing, dumping, paving, spraying, or building—just leave it to the beavers.  Think of the improvements they would make to floodplain function, water quality, and much-needed wildlife habitat.  Could you do it?  Could you overcome the typical emotional response to beavers arriving on your property and instead of issuing a death warrant, welcome them as the talented engineers they are?  I’ll bet you could.