It only took 1.5 warm days to entice a resident pair of Canada geese to return to their nesting pond for a look around. They’d better not get too comfortable just yet. Snow and sleet is forecast for the weekend.I’ve lived here on Roundtop now for more than 15 years, and every year a pair of Canada geese has nested on this pond. In a few years, two pairs have nested here, but usually the second and third pairs settle in on one of the other small snow-making ponds on the property. The geese seem to prefer a single pair to one pond ratio.
This was the first time since late last summer that I’ve seen the geese on this pond again. They are a little spooky at the moment, though that typically passes. The geese apparently winter nearby on one of the larger ponds in the area. It’s not uncommon to hear geese in the winter or occasionally to see a few flying around but they don’t stay at this pond.
Sometimes the geese don’t raise their young on this pond. They nest here but as soon as the young can travel, they march them all to one of the other ponds. Sometimes, they do raise the young on this pond, and in those years they will stay until the young ones can fly. There’s no predicting what their preference will be this year. I'll just have to wait and see.
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3 comments:
Do you have that much open water now? (envy)
Have you read "The Geese of Beaver Bog" by Bernd Heinrich? I think you'd like it- it's one of my favorites of his. In fact, I've loved every book of his that I've read.
Lynne, the pond the goose in the photo is on is a snow-making pond. That means they draw water from it all winter long, so the water more or less stays open through winter. In still water, the ice is still on, though it's not very thick at the moemnt.
Thanks for the tip about The Geese of Beaver Bog. I'll check it out.
Carolyn H.
Remind me of high school. There was courtyard and a pair a duck would use it as a nesting area. Was a big thing for the school. When the babies would hatch, they annouced it over the intercom system. Plus they even had their own kiddle pool too.
When they the babies were old enough, they had to be rounded up and take to another place to grow up. That was always a sad day when that happen'
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