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Tuesday late afternoon I was digging out (we got tagged with snow) and a big vee of geese flew over. Talked with my aunt inland, and she saw some too.
Seems late for honkers. Anyone else?
They were headed due south, but I wonder if a golf course in Portland might be their destination.
warraghiyagey
12-05-2007, 20:15
I've been watching them come and go with awe my whole life. But it was my time in the western Berkshires that shed light on their migratory patterns.
It seems that among their species some prefer colder climes and some warmer. There was a pond that saw geese all through the winter. And for sure they'd come in from the north and head out to the south. As the weather turned in late Feb/ early March their direction turned and in the summer there were still geese coming in from the south and heading out to the north.
Made me think they aren't prone to all gather in one area but move more fluidly with the changing seasons.
Canada Geese have been moving about here the last few days too. Those I've seen have been flying higher and in larger flocks than I usually see. I wondered if they were birds just passing through as opposed to locals?
mmmmmmm. goooooose.
Actually, I was fishing by a trout pond (near Manassas Gap) and there were a few wild geese hanging around. One of the geese was one of those hybrids between a wild goose and a domestic.
Anyways, this fellow comes by and mentions that these geese seem easy to catch and would he get in trouble for catching one. This older fellow fishing next to me just chuckled and said, "go right ahead". Off the fellow went to catch a goose.
I looked at the other fisherman and said that it was probably illegal to harm a goose and I thought it was a bad idea. He just laughed and said, "that boy's about to learn a valuable lesson".
About 20 seconds later here he came running out of the bushes with the meanest, hissing goose you ever saw after him. The look on his face was priceless.
The other fisherman said, "told ya."
Canada Geese have been moving about here the last few days too. Those I've seen have been flying higher and in larger flocks than I usually see. I wondered if they were birds just passing through as opposed to locals?
Good point. I took an Ornithology 101 course in 2001 with a fantastic birder. While discussing Canada Geese one day, he pointed out that there are a number of different populations of Canada Geese. Some that have become habituated to humans and make a nuisance of themselves, and some wild populations that remain skittish of humans and migrate as they always have.
He informed us that the wild geese tend to migrate higher in the sky than the populations that are crapping on golf courses and being a general PIA. The Geese you saw high in the sky are probably wild ones, migrating in the manner that their DNA has them hard wired.
I hope this answers your question.
Years ago sighting a goose, particularly a Canada was almost unheard of. But in the last couple of years I have been spotting small groups flying low and even a few in ponds here in central Florida. A plus, perhaps, for global warming-whatever is causing it!
Jan LiteShoe
12-14-2007, 10:21
Tuesday late afternoon I was digging out (we got tagged with snow) and a big vee of geese flew over. Talked with my aunt inland, and she saw some too.
Seems late for honkers. Anyone else?
They were headed due south, but I wonder if a golf course in Portland might be their destination.
I can't speak to the lateness, but the other night (it was dark), I heard a gracious honking and went outside on the deck to see a Vee of geese working it's way across the sky. They were not high, but why they were flying at night is a mystery. Very cool time-stands-still moment though.
As for geese in general, one f the most fantastic New years Eves I ever spent was camping at Pettigrew State Park in Creswell, NC and hearing the migrating Alaska waterfowl beating their way over our tents, even at night. Literally, you could hear the beating of their wings. Tundra swans, mergansers, several types of geese, giant trees and deep silent forests, pocosin habitat, the very strange and shallow Lake Phelps, the Scuppernong river, an old plantation preserved as local history. What a great place. bring a kayak if you go.
Jeffery, if you haven't been yet, this place is right up your alley, esp. in prime birding time, early winter. Lots warmer than the Art Loeb! ;-)
I highly recomend a campout there - a person can get a sense of the abundance of wildlife present in the land 300 years ago, Simply astounding. Feathers everywhere.
If anyone get a notion to go, I might just take off and join you.
http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/pett/home.html
My son called the other night from MD, and he was looking at a flock of over 300 going over his house. I wish I was there!
I
Jeffery, if you haven't been yet, this place is right up your alley, esp. in prime birding time, early winter. Lots warmer than the Art Loeb! ;-)
I highly recomend a campout there - a person can get a sense of the abundance of wildlife present in the land 300 years ago, Simply astounding. Feathers everywhere.
If anyone get a notion to go, I might just take off and join you.
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[/SIZE][/FONT]http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/pett/home.html
Thanks Jan. It has been added to the short list!
Do Canadian Geese know there from Canada? :)
Lone Wolf
12-14-2007, 15:40
Canada geese. not Canadian geese
Very cool about the altitude. The ones I saw were high.
Thanks for the bird behavior tidbit, but I'm still not wearing a you-know what hat.
Could someone tell me how to quote a portion, or sentence, of a post?
Pretty please?
1. Click quote.
2. Edit out what you don't want in the quote.
3. Make sure you maintain the brackets containing "quote" and "/quote" or it won't work.
4. Add what you want beneath the quote.
5. Submit and see what it looks like.
The easiest way is to strike the quote button and delete what you don't want being certain, of course, to retain the code that creates the quote box.
Alternatively, you can cut what you want to quote and paste it into the reply window and add the coding manually.
T a big vee of geese flew over. Talked with my aunt and she saw some too.
Seems late for honkers.
They were headed due south a golf course in Portland might be their destination.
Cool.
7777
Alternatively, you can cut what you want to quote and paste it into the reply window and add the coding manually.
Ok. I think I got the easy way. Is this method complicated?
Thanks to both of you!
Canada geese. not Canadian geeseWell spotted L.Wolf.
It is not just a technicality neither. They might be from here, but we don't own them.
They help define us, but we don't do much for them. :)
taildragger
12-14-2007, 16:33
Well spotted L.Wolf.
It is not just a technicality neither. They might be from here, but we don't own them.
They help define us, but we don't do much for them. :)
What about your saskatchewan wheat fields and wetlands. One of the greatest water fowl hunting areas on the planet.
Ok. I think I got the easy way. Is this method complicated?
If you know how to cut and paste, it's quite simple. To learn what you must enter to create the quote box, see what appears in the reply window when you click on the quote button.
Another thing I sometimes do when replying to more than one portion of someone's post is to delete what I don't want and create separate boxes for each item to which I want to reply by inserting the coding manually. I always retain the original quote as the first box at the top which contains the link to the quoted post.
Click on Preview Post before Submit Reply to make sure you've done what you intended.
Thanks to both of you!
You're welcome!
dessertrat
12-14-2007, 17:37
Canada geese. not Canadian geese
Well, they might also be Canadian, eh?
Those who want to learn more about bird migration should buy or borrow a copy of Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds by Scott Weidensaul. It's available in paperback and used copies can be obtained inexpensively from Amazon.
Migratory waterfowl are interesting.
Some Geese and ducks will sometimes remain in northern/winter climates as long as there is open water to float on. The cold doesn't seem to affect them with all that goose/duck down.
The ducks don't require much open water to hang around but the geese need a good stretch of open water to be able to get airborne.
Have not seen any geese(Canada or Canadian,lol) inland ME for quite some time now. Water here is getting locked up in ice.
Coastal areas in the northeast might be a different story.