Geese Observation

Well, it was back to work for me today after being off last week. Being a mailman I get to see lots of birds during the course of my route and today was the main migration of Canada Geese from Wisconsin. Big flocks I observed all day. They were all high flyers which means they weren't the local birds.Horicon Marsh, which is a Federal and State Wildlife Refuge in the central part of the state, is a main stopover for the MVP (Mississippi Valley Population) geese. They hang out there until freezeup drives them out. Well, that must have occurred last night so they all left and I think the next stop for them is in Southern Illinois at the Horseshoe Bend Wildlife area. We nowadays kind of take Canada Geese for granted and seeing them is no big deal as they are everywhere during the Summer and Fall. But these were the "wild" northern geese that come down from the James Bay area in Canada. When I was a kid the only time you saw Canada Geese was in the spring when they were heading North and again in the Fall when they passed through to the South. It was a big deal to hear their honking and my Dad would get excited and drop whatever he was doing and call us kids and have us run outside and watch the spectacle. It was a melancholy kind of thing in the Fall and a hopeful sign in the Spring.
Jim

Hi Jim,

I saw my first Canadian Geese when I moved to Mo 26 years ago. As you said the sight and sound of the migration is awesome. Several years ago during their fall migration they decided to spend the night on our farm due to a very bad wind storm. We had at least one thousand Canadian and Snow Geese and they wiped out several acres of winter wheat! They were a sight to behold and we felt very priviledged to have them visit us. Of course now we have several that are here year around and I enjoy hearing them honk on their way to the pond every day.

A few weeks ago I was awakened by the sound of them migrating...I could hear them honking for a full 6 minutes. I don't know how many there were but it had to be a lot!

Thanks for sharing your story,

Rose

Great storys Jim & Rose!

Thanks for sharing Jim and Rose!