PAULBACH
New member
The roads are wide open during the week as I leave the I-87 (the Northway behind and head up 9N toward the Champlain Bridge and Vermont.
Lake George along the eastern edge of 9N. These roads are among the favorites of Empeg9000.
The colors were near peak along the way.
At Crown Point, just before the Champlain Bridge, an unusual sight - the vintage Union Jack was flying. Maybe the Brits are reclaiming some of their territory.
A flock of the elusive Snow Geese.
They are called Snow Geese since a flock of them arising or descending can look like a flurry of snow.
This was about as close as I got. The VT Fish and Wildlife Department plants hundreds of acres of corn, buckwheat and green forage crops. The geese keep well away from tourists. They have no need to depend on tourists for handouts.
The sign says:
Snow Geese are relatively new to the Dead Creek Refuge having begun to use the area as recently as 1961. Their numbers continued to increase annually and peak populations present here in mid-October exceed 20,000 birds.
Snow Geese do not breed here but use the refuge for resting and feeding in both spring and fall. They pass through the Lake Champlain migrational corridor twice each year between their wintering grounds in the mid-Atlantic states and their breeding areas in the Arctic reaches of eastern Canada. The birds arrive at Dead Creek in mid - to late March and leave in early April. We welcome their return in early October as large flocks descend onto these agricultural fields to rest and feed through November in preparation for the remainder of their southward journey.
The snow geese here are mostly greater snows. Lesser snow geese are similar in appearance, although slightly small and generally occur further west. A few of the lesser snows, including dark-colored individuals referred to as "Blue Geese," may also be observed.
Young snow geese are dusky colored in contrast to the snow white plumage of adults. All find the refuge's combination of corn, buckwheat and green forage crops excellent for replenishing energy reserves needed for migration.
The return trip home. Those are the Adirondacks in the foreground.
Sailboat on Lake George
I choose RT8 to get back to I-87 and a dash home since it was getting windy and cold. This is a pull-off along Route 8 in the Adirondacks. It seems to say, Winter is on the way.
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