Lake Ontario - Migrating Visitors

We are off to explore the beach at the Wilson-Tuscarora State Park on

Lake Ontario!

After a few hours in the car, Sophie is off like a shot. Lake Ontario has 714 miles of coast, so she has plenty of room for running. Guess what she's after.

Birds, of course! She's a "bird dog" after all. In this case, it is a flock of Canadian Geese taking a rest stop on their migration to southern states or as far as Mexico for the winter. Sophie would swim after them for hours if she could. Good thing they can fly. And fly they do! They can reach up to 60mph, and can go as high as 8,000 feet. They can fly by day or at night and can keep going for 16 hours straight! No wonder they need a rest.

Beautiful point, Lucy!

German Shorthairs are bred to pick up their front paw and point to birds like geese, ducks, quail and pheasant. There are many bird santuaries along the coast of Lake Ontario. Some birds migrate through in spring and fall while others make the lake their permanent home. Geese aren't the only birds attracted to this rest stop.

The shore of Lake Ontario, like other Great Lakes, is covered with perfectly smooth stones. They are worn smooth by the powerful waves and currents of such a large lake.

After pointing birds, Lucy's second favorite beach activity is finding particular rocks that she feels should definitely NOT be underwater. She will put her entire head underwater to retrieve one of these offending rocks and proudly bring it up on to the beach. Why she does this, we will probably never know. It's a wonder what goes on in that mind of hers. At least Lake Ontario's smooth rocks make it a little easier on her teeth. Thank goodness!

Click here to find more information about the Wilson-Tuscarora State Park:
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=31

Click here to find some interesting facts and figures about Lake Ontario:
http://www.great-lakes.net/gis/