Sunday, March 28, 2021

Change In Plans

We are busy in the spring. Very busy. Yet, watching birds is something we put into our 'busy' schedule. 'Our' Canada geese winter over in the river and then fly north. We watch them each day line up in formation to fly over the dormant cornfield to the west knowing there are hunters about, but still calling their friends and neighbors to fly out. They do not leave all at once but in groups of 5 or 10 or 20.  When the noise reaches a peak, the flapping wings banging against the surface of the water adds even more chaotic sound, and soon with a crescendo, they are off leaving behind only soft white feathers on the surface.

Those geese that remain are not migratory and must find nesting grasses as soon as the weather starts to warm. The geese that remain were looking at the osprey nest right after the last snow.
We realized too late that we should have tried to knock off all the soft grasses and forced the osprey to rebuild when they arrived. 

The ospreys returned weeks later and sat watchfully on the empty nest that first day.  Sometime during the day the geese brought a major attack against the two ospreys and intimidated them off the nest with their large wingspan. When the geese returned to the nest, the osprey were not able to return the intimidation making them leave. I learned a lot about fighting and sense of purpose and how size matters more than claws and beaks---psychology more than actual weapons.  This battle went on for several days.  The ospreys are now building a more fragile nest high in a tree across the river.



We dreaded the time when the geese couple would realize that hubby's banging on the osprey nest post and his chasing them back up the river in his kayak was not dangerous. One morning the female goose stood her ground!  She sat and watch him bang away and realized that was all he had. No gun. No net. Just noise. 


For a while, there were two couples eyeing the nest.  Real estate is at a premium here.  

We have accepted that once again we will watch a pair of geese raise their young through the spring...unless our horned owl decides the young will make a nice midnight snack.  I accept that we like the geese less because they are so abundant and so strong.  I have had a goose try to chase me off a canal path years ago.  But it is what it is.

13 comments:

  1. those dang geese. I lived in a house once where the lady across the street and down a house or two had a goose. you didn't want to be walking on hr side of the street when the goose was in the front yard.

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  2. I would have picked the osprey in a fight, but those geese do know how to intimidate...amazing.

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  4. When my kids had their farm they called their goose the "guard goose." She was something else. They re-homed it to someone with no kids.

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  5. Yes, glad to hear the Ospreys are nesting even if they are across the river. I'm afraid you are going to have to enjoy the goose family, darn it.

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  6. Better luck to the osprey next year.

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  7. Competition of the fittest!

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  8. Long bamboo pole tipped with glossy ribbons, if legal, and no eggs, wave across nest when they are there might cause the geese to give up.
    I like geese, but osprey are neat as well.

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  9. They are so numerous. I do wonder how prolific they were before colonization.

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  10. Geese have arrived here already this spring. We have so which over winter here too.

    You have a real bird’s eye view for sure. Groan!

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  11. I am relieved that the osprey are still around. They are certainly capable of creating their own nests. Here we have seen them making great big twig nests on top of cell phone towers.
    Geese are party poopers. Literally.

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  12. Your descriptions of sights and sounds are fantastic.

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  13. Happy to know that your ospreys are still about, Tabor. I have so enjoyed reading about them in seasons past!

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.