Canada Geese!

Canada Geese are interesting birds, and prolific poopers! They can endear themselves to you if you allow them to. Watching a pair cross the road, and bringing traffic to a standstill, is always entertaining. Watching a pair take care of their young is quite remarkable, as is the show of aggression if you get too close and their escape options are limited. Watching a single Canada Goose wander around having lost its life-mate is very sad.

Our town is on Lake Ontario and has a small harbour created many years ago around an estuary, so we naturally have our local Canada Geese who spend much of their time sitting in the water and (seemingly) meditating. I would guess that when we cross over the river, which overlooks the harbour, we can usually see perhaps a 40-50 geese below us.

Earlier this week, we saw this!

 

The above pic really does not do our view justice, because there were many geese below us (out of camera shot), and they also occupied the water right to the harbour entrance. I would guess that there were 800-1000 geese in the water, and a stand-up paddler was approaching them from the harbour entrance … so this is what happened.

There was a mass take-off in our direction… and over our heads!

If you have heard a few Canada Geese take-off, you may remember the “wing noises” as they gain altitude. You can use your imagination as to what this sounded like to us as they flew over.

As for Ray? He just stood still and watched the whole show!

47 thoughts on “Canada Geese!”

    • Just popped over to see it! They have so much character don’t they. I love to watch them when a pair crosses the road, and the traffic comes to a total a stop. As an aside, welcome to my Blog … and from lovely BC eh! I’ll be there myself in June as I visit a few people in North Van. 🙂

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    • Hi SL. We do have a permanent large population of them here but, like you, we’ve never seen so many in such a small area … and seeing so many take flight at the same time was a real thrill!

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  7. That’s a huge flock. We usually see about 25 flying in the “V” formation overhead on their way further north in June. I remember in my childhood on Vancouver Island that about 50 would land in a local farmer’s field on their way south to winter. They did a lot of damage to his crops but, from our standpoint, they were majestic creatures..

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    • They are majestic are’t they. A few years ago we were on that same bridge and watched a small flock (20-30) of Canada Geese take-off in our direction. There are some hi-rise buildings close by which can produce peculiar wind conditions, and when that group were almost overhead, a couple of the geese hit a “hole” and dropped about 20ft very quickly which brought them seemingly down to about 6ft – 8ft above us! Those “guys” are big when that close and in flight! 🙂

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  8. What a sight! We can hear them honking and see them in formation as they fly to and from Canada. The part of Brazoria County, Texas, in which we are located (Alvin, Texas) is within a short distance from where birders have reported the highest number of species seen in migrating flyovers in the USA. We always taught our sixth graders to be on the lookout for Canadian Geese, discussed their migrations (and how far they travelled) often while they sketched or colored printed sketches of the geese, so the kids could spot them from their markings, etc. as they walked to school. They were always proud when they “reported” a sighting to their science teachers.I still love to hear them and spot them when I am outdoors during the early mornings and/or early evenings.

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  11. Wow! That is one helluva flock!
    We have about 150 – 200 on the lake when they’re all here, and they’re starting to pair up now. It was amazing last year to watch the goslings grow up and for the adults to let me get pretty close to take photos. I seem to have a some ‘new friends’ when feeding the ducks now but we have to be careful. As you say, they are prolific poopers, but fascinating to watch.

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  12. May a smile be your umbrella as the geese fly overhead! Ours honk, can’t say I’ve ever heard the altitude “wing noises” you speak of. I got my copy of your book about Ray from Amazon yesterday, loved the centerfold photos, especially “Ray” Charles. Can’t wait to dig in. 🙂

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  13. We get a lot of Canadian geese here. A few years back they banned feeding them at our local park and have worked to get them to move on. They don’t migrate anymore but live here permanently. They must have changed citizenship! 🙂 I think they are wonderful. Others don’t like the poop and the aggressiveness.

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  14. Wow, what a magical moment. Lucky for you, being in the right place at the right time (provided you weren’t the victim of an aerial bombardment). I thought Canadian geese flew south for the winter. Seems kind of strange to see them in a snowy environment.

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  16. How nice to have front row seats in watching the beauty of Canada Geese. Hoping none of the birds left any “deposits” as they flew over your heads. 🙂
    Kudos to Ray for just being still and calmly watching amidst all the noise.

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