A Cattle Egret forages on the soccer field at Cass Park in Ithaca, New York, 2021-10-31. Although out of range, Cattle Egrets have been steadily expanding its range in the new world.
@@suanswildlifevideos in a field that was tilled up. There was old corn there but it was an open field that was pretty protected from the wind. It didn't look like snow geese because they were tall. I have seen Sandhill Cranes here and also tons of herons. It was definitely a white crane type bird. I was driving and could not pull over but I saw them flapping their wings and moving, which made it easy to tell they were tall and lanky. They didn't seem too big. I don't think they were bigger than great blue herons. All of this happened in or around Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge properties and also in the north part of the Finger Lakes near lake Ontario, Auburn, Syracuse. I watch birds everyday as a hobby but I take it very seriously. I live in the city of Auburn and I've seen a Cooper's Hawk in my tree next to my house. I see pretty much every single bird that's on the Cornell Bird feeder cam at Sapsucker woods at my house everyday lol. I log it using Audubon. I saw the birds yesterday but I didn't go back to see if they were still there due to the bad weather. I'll try to go out and see if I can find anything similar tomorrow if it's not bad. The flock was not very big either. It was maybe a couple dozen individuals. Hard to see from the road.
@@suanswildlifevideos i will let you know! they seemed very unusual, especially the size of the birds and the size of the flock. being in this area we obviously get gigantic flocks of snow geese that rest in the fields. i have seen flocks of snow geese in fields between auburn and cayuga, on West Genesee Street Rd and then the connecting backroads. but those flocks always number in the thousands. snow geese in my experience look smaller than canadian geese even without binoculars. the unknown birds, could've been another type of heron, or egret. but when researching the possible species, snowy egret and great egret didn't seem to fit as there was no water nearby, it was just south of Montezuma, so maybe they were making a quick stopover before heading to the wetlands... but the other white crane type birds didn't seem to make sense, the location was in a field which had recently been harvested and then tilled for next year, and also near farm animals. around the area were small drumlins (hills) that created a natural bowl within the terrain, and surrounding the farm and it's fields and buildings, upon the hills, were tall old growth trees. the road even was down a bit and there was a ledge on the right side of my car, making it hard to see the field due to the hilly terrain. i hope this is making sense hahha. the spot was honestly perfect for a small flock of birds to land in, it seemed as if it would be safe from the wind and also more out of view. possibly adult sandhill cranes? they can look fairly white in some photos, although i have only seen 3 in Montezuma and they were all completely tawny/brownish, very prehistoric looking :D
Cool!! I think I just saw a flock near Montezuma NY yesterday!!
That would be highly unusual, though not unprecedented. Could you describe where this was?
@@suanswildlifevideos in a field that was tilled up. There was old corn there but it was an open field that was pretty protected from the wind. It didn't look like snow geese because they were tall. I have seen Sandhill Cranes here and also tons of herons. It was definitely a white crane type bird. I was driving and could not pull over but I saw them flapping their wings and moving, which made it easy to tell they were tall and lanky. They didn't seem too big. I don't think they were bigger than great blue herons. All of this happened in or around Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge properties and also in the north part of the Finger Lakes near lake Ontario, Auburn, Syracuse. I watch birds everyday as a hobby but I take it very seriously. I live in the city of Auburn and I've seen a Cooper's Hawk in my tree next to my house. I see pretty much every single bird that's on the Cornell Bird feeder cam at Sapsucker woods at my house everyday lol. I log it using Audubon. I saw the birds yesterday but I didn't go back to see if they were still there due to the bad weather. I'll try to go out and see if I can find anything similar tomorrow if it's not bad. The flock was not very big either. It was maybe a couple dozen individuals. Hard to see from the road.
Thanks. If you see them again and can report a precise time and location, I can share it with other birders in the area who might be interested.
@@suanswildlifevideos i will let you know! they seemed very unusual, especially the size of the birds and the size of the flock. being in this area we obviously get gigantic flocks of snow geese that rest in the fields. i have seen flocks of snow geese in fields between auburn and cayuga, on West Genesee Street Rd and then the connecting backroads. but those flocks always number in the thousands. snow geese in my experience look smaller than canadian geese even without binoculars. the unknown birds, could've been another type of heron, or egret. but when researching the possible species, snowy egret and great egret didn't seem to fit as there was no water nearby, it was just south of Montezuma, so maybe they were making a quick stopover before heading to the wetlands... but the other white crane type birds didn't seem to make sense, the location was in a field which had recently been harvested and then tilled for next year, and also near farm animals. around the area were small drumlins (hills) that created a natural bowl within the terrain, and surrounding the farm and it's fields and buildings, upon the hills, were tall old growth trees. the road even was down a bit and there was a ledge on the right side of my car, making it hard to see the field due to the hilly terrain. i hope this is making sense hahha. the spot was honestly perfect for a small flock of birds to land in, it seemed as if it would be safe from the wind and also more out of view. possibly adult sandhill cranes? they can look fairly white in some photos, although i have only seen 3 in Montezuma and they were all completely tawny/brownish, very prehistoric looking :D
Yeah. About the only other flocking white bird around here that could be confused would be gulls, but their shape and posture would be very different.