My parents-in-law get large rafts of ducks at the place they like to go
birding at Presqu'isle Provincial Park on Lake Ontario. They asked me how to
count the ducks on the water and, most particulary, how to do it in rough
weather. I don't know, really. I told them to practice by throwing a bunch
of grains of rice on a table, estimating the number and counting them after
the estimate. But when you are looking at birds on a surface at a oblique
angle, and further when it is rough, I'm at a bit of a loss. I figured
others out there might also be interested in the answer to this. Thus this post.
P.S.
I was out at Ucluelet, Vancouver Island, whale watching today. Saw a couple
of them. Also saw about four skeins of Greater-white-fronted Geese (Anser
ablifrons)(that's for you Micheal!). They were all heading north. Each skein
was about 70 to 120 in number. That's my un-practiced estimate.
John A. (Sandy) McRuer, RPF
4728 Southgate Road
Port Alberni B.C.
V9Y 5K6
250-723-2452 or 723-5436