Canada Geese on the move?

Nature Notes for February 24, 2017

“Why are so many Canada Geese flying over my house these days? Sometimes they are flying south, sometimes north. Are they confused?”

I’ve been asked a variation on this query several times in the past couple of weeks. These birds are probably the locally wintering Canada Geese. They make several feeding trips per day into harvested agricultural fields and then return to larger bodies of water to rest and digest. In an open winter such as this one, they can get to the waste grain in the fields and they can also graze on the herbaceous vegetation since it’s not buried under snow. Earlier this week, I saw several geese grazing in the park along the Ganaraska.

A few if the many Canada Geese obvious recently.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

The history of Canada Geese in southern Ontario is an interesting one. Prior to European settlement, they likely nested in southern Ontario. They were quickly hunted out by the early settlers.

In the 1920s and 1930s, waterfowl fanciers started raising and releasing Canada Geese in Ontario. By the 1960s, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources was actively releasing geese.

Wintering Canada Geese are a relatively recent phenomenon. Willow Beach Field Naturalists have been holding a Christmas Bird Census since 1954. The first time that a Canada Goose was recorded on this count was in 1976, when a single goose was seen. It was another three years until more Canadas were found, when an astonishing (for the time) 543 were counted. By the mid-1980s, Canada Geese had become an annual occurrence on this count. The first year that over 1000 geese were counted was 1997. The count has not been less than that since, with the high count recorded in 2012, when 5977 were tallied.

The Northumberland Summer Bird Count, held in June, has somewhat different geographic boundaries and a shorter history than the Christmas Count. However, it, too, has recorded a steady increase in the numbers of Canada Geese. In 1997, the first year of this count, 40 geese were counted. The highest total to date was 819 in 2013. In most of past 10 years, the numbers of Canada Geese have hovered between 200 and 300.

In July 1950, naturalists Orval Kelly, who wrote for the Brighton Ensign, reports on a birding expedition to the Port Britain area, west of Port Hope. “There were plenty of birds such as one would expect to see in such an environment, but I was surprised and thrilled to see a Canada goose swimming among the rushes.” Imagine! Being “surprised and thrilled” to see a Canada Goose! Only today, I was asked if anything could be done to discourage the many Canada Geese that collect on the beach in that same location.

Today, Canada Geese nest in almost every wetland in the county.

March is the time when migrant geese can be seen. These are the birds that nest in the Arctic and winter off the eastern seaboard of the U.S. At this time, birds from further south join the wintering flocks. Amongst the Canadas, there are sometimes other geese. The most frequent of these are Cackling Geese. This is a small version of the Canada Goose that has recently been split into a separate species. Other goose species mixing with the Canadas are Snow Geese and White-fronted Geese. Very rarely, Ross’s Geese are sometimes found amongst the local Canada Geese.

On another note, reports of many wintering American Robins continue. Despite a substantial snow fall a week ago, there is still abundant fruit above the snow for these birds. I fear in spring 2017, robins will not be a sign of spring, since they have been around all winter.