Post by Gord on Nov 28, 2009 22:23:55 GMT -8
Friday afternoon just before dark the flock of Cackling Geese that have been on Kerr Rd in Chilliwack for the last week or so were a little closer to the road. I stopped for a look and some photos of this huge flock of geese. As the numbers of these little geese have been rising steadily the last while, it was worthwhile getting a good count. From my observations, the flock was 100% Cackling Goose with the only variation being several of the really small ones (minima) among the taverneri sub-species.
The following three images are actually six photos. I stuck them together in pairs so they wont be too big to post on the forum. Imagine all three lined up!
As to counting, well it's pretty tough to count them as they're moving around. So I took photos, panning through the flock, and cropped each one so the next photo would line up with the last on my computer. Then the fun begins. To not lose track, I marked off each head and if no head visible, the body. The tally for each photo is marked in. This photo had the most. A quiet house was necessary for this procedure! (If anyone wants to do an audit on my count, feel free and have fun! ;D ;D ;D ;D )
The end result from the six photos was 1696 birds! As I would not be surprised if a few were hiding behind others, it will be a few more. But since it was growing dark, most were standing tall contemplating leaving for their night roost and keeping an eye on the guy hopping around on the sidewalk with a camera.
Several days earlier this flock flew over the mall and I captured them on my cell phone video camera. Click on the link below to view it. Im not sure what happened to the sound (it was most impressive and did sound ok when played back on my phone) as it comes out on my computer similar to the sound kids make when they put their hand under their armpit to create humerous sounds.
s17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/LaForge_/?action=view¤t=1124091206a.flv
The following three images are actually six photos. I stuck them together in pairs so they wont be too big to post on the forum. Imagine all three lined up!
As to counting, well it's pretty tough to count them as they're moving around. So I took photos, panning through the flock, and cropped each one so the next photo would line up with the last on my computer. Then the fun begins. To not lose track, I marked off each head and if no head visible, the body. The tally for each photo is marked in. This photo had the most. A quiet house was necessary for this procedure! (If anyone wants to do an audit on my count, feel free and have fun! ;D ;D ;D ;D )
The end result from the six photos was 1696 birds! As I would not be surprised if a few were hiding behind others, it will be a few more. But since it was growing dark, most were standing tall contemplating leaving for their night roost and keeping an eye on the guy hopping around on the sidewalk with a camera.
Several days earlier this flock flew over the mall and I captured them on my cell phone video camera. Click on the link below to view it. Im not sure what happened to the sound (it was most impressive and did sound ok when played back on my phone) as it comes out on my computer similar to the sound kids make when they put their hand under their armpit to create humerous sounds.
s17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/LaForge_/?action=view¤t=1124091206a.flv