Thousands of snow geese die in Montana after landing on contaminated water

Huge flock of migratory birds landed on acidic waters of an open pit mine where employees attempted to scare them off

Associated Press

Wednesday 7 December 2016 01.28 GMT 

Several thousand snow geese have died after a snowstorm forced large flocks to take refuge in the acidic, metal-laden waters of an old open pit mine in Montana.

Mark Thompson, environmental affairs manager for mine company Montana Resources, said witnesses described the pit as like “700 acres of white birds” on 28 November. 

Along with Atlantic Richfield, Montana Resources is responsible for Berkeley Pit in Butte.

Since 28 November, employees of MR and Arco had used spotlights, noise makers and other efforts to scare or “haze” the birds off the water and prevent others from landing.

The companies estimated that more than 90% of the birds had been chased off by 29 November, Thompson said.

Workers received some advance notice about the incoming flock from an off-duty Montana Resources employee about 25 miles away, who called to report there were about 25,000 geese in the air in Anaconda, Thompson said.

“I can’t underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night,” Thompson said. “Numbers beyond anything we’ve ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude.”

The employees worked hard to save the birds, he said. 

Typically, Butte sees between 2,000 and 5,000 birds all year, including spring and water migration, Thompson said.

The estimated death toll is based on drone and aircraft flights over the pit, which holds about 45bn gallons (175bn litres) of water.

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Thousands of geese fall from Idaho sky in likely avian cholera outbreak

Not known whether snow geese contracted the disease during migration

Humans face small risk of contracting avian cholera

Reuters in Salmon, Idaho

Tuesday 17 March 2015 14.34 GMTLast modified on Tuesday 17 March 201515.27 GMT

Avian cholera is suspected in the deaths of at least 2,000 snow geese that fell dead from the sky in Idaho while migrating to nesting grounds on the northern coast of Alaska, wildlife managers said on Monday.

Dozens of Idaho department of fish and game workers and volunteers at the weekend retrieved and incinerated carcasses of snow geese found near bodies of water and a wildlife management area in the eastern part of the state, said agency spokesman Gregg Losinski.

Avian cholera is believed to be the culprit in the deaths mostly because of the way the birds died, he said.

“Basically, they just fell out of the sky,” said Losinski.

He said biologists were awaiting results from a state wildlife lab to confirm the birds died of the highly contagious disease, which is caused by bacteria that can survive in soil and water for up to four months.

Humans face a small risk of contracting the disease, but the more immediate threat is to wildlife in the vicinity of contaminated carcasses, Losinski said.

About 20 bald eagles were seen near areas where snow geese carcasses littered the ground, but a lengthy incubation period makes it unclear if the eagles were infected and would carry the ailment elsewhere, said Losinski.

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Bird blizzard: More than a million snow geese blot out the sky as they make epic journey to Arctic tundra

More than a million snow geese take flight over the skies of Missouri - creating the illusion of a blizzard - in these awe-inspiring pictures.

The spectacle was captured in Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge as the birds began their annual summer migration back to the Arctic tundra found in Greenland, Canada, and Alaska.

Groups of birds numbering between 100 and 1,000 make the journey together alongside others, their swooping mass blotting out large swathes of sky.

Photographer Doug French, from Nebraska, captured the jaw-dropping scenes earlier this year.

He said: 'This flock of more than one million geese were seen leaving the refuge early in the morning at sun rise.

'At times more than 100,000 geese would erupt from the lake in a solid white and black wall of geese and the sound of their wing beats would drown out everything else.

'You could not see through these giant walls of geese.'

More:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346886/Bird-blizzard-More-million-snow-geese-blot-sky-make-epic-journey-Arctic-tundra.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Birds arriving at north-state wetlands

On a flooded rice field in remote Yuba County, a small flock of tundra swan ended their long journey this week and settled in the water in front of us. Off to our right, about 100 snow geese bobbed about.

Storms in the Arctic, Canada and the Pacific Northwest are sending roughly 5 million birds on the Pacific Flyway to wetlands on the bay, delta and refuges in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, it felt like summer: 78 degrees, with crystal blue skies and a light breeze out of the northwest. But birds never lie. Winter is fast approaching. By Thanksgiving at this rice field off Woodruff Lane, a back-road connector link for highways 70 and 20, I've seen the fields look like carpets of white from so many snow geese, Ross' geese and swans.

At midweek, rafts of snow geese arrived at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Biologist Mike Carpenter and his crew then quickly ventured afield, across the complex's five refuges, to count the latest numbers.

"The birds are here," said Brandee Bethard at Sacramento refuge headquarters south of Willows (Glenn County). "And more are arriving every day."

Last year, 76,000 people took a break from their trips on I-5 and enjoyed the driving tour through the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Another 25,000 took the auto tour off Highway 20 through Colusa National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands more made their own personal trips to their favorite marsh along the bay or delta.

The people who pay for the refuges, the duck hunters with their licenses and duck stamps, have been struggling this month. The ducks seem to know the areas that are hunted and simply fly to the areas that are not and hang out there. Last weekend, across the hunt zones in refuges in the Sacramento Valley, the average was 0.7 to 1.7 ducks per hunter, with an overall average of 0 to 0.2 geese. A trip to the nearby driving tour is proof enough, though, that the ducks are here.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/Birds-arriving-at-north-state-wetlands-4017826.php#ixzz2BdgsESeG