Southbound geese over Texas!

[Wingnut]

Well, geese DO make a mess, I recall visiting a waterfront park in Green Bay and there was goose cr@p EVERYWHERE, so I understand why some folks don't like 'em... and I agree with Spikedriver, their meat is kinda greasy or oily, so I'd rather eat turkey, but I also like seeing wild geese in flight, their formations are a thing of beauty. I suppose that makes geese "high-maintenance birds." When raised domestically, they make pretty good guards...

Edit: Correction, the park was in Green Bay, Wisconsin... somewhere in my photo collection from my 'trucking daze' I actually have some pics of the flock and the mess they made. Maybe I'll dig 'em out later and post 'em, lol.

 

[joel]

The geese are eating seeds of Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum), also known as highway grass. The Bahiagrass is sown on the roads to keep down erosion & suppress weeds. The seed spread over the open fields, I know a ten acre lot that is covered with the grass.
Geese walk around in the grass eating the green seeds, wild turkeys eat their full too.

 

[backlash]

I saw a big flock of geese yesterday. They were sitting in a freshly combined corn field.
It's getting to be that time of the year for them to pass through by the thousands.
I love watching the ducks and geese set their wings and drop into the small lake behind my house.
A few years ago that lake was almost completely covered with pelicans. I still don't know why they would be this far inland but they're here a lot.

 

[Wingnut]

I saw American White Pelicans on the reclamation pond that was used to help water the golf course in Benson, AZ. I thought they were swans for a moment, but I broke out the binoculars I kept handy for the purpose and looked at 'em, then said to myself, "Whoa, those are PELICANS!!!" [Cue the line from 'SCARFACE!']

The reclamation pond was for gray water, not a bad idea in the high desert when ya wanna water an 18-hole golf course, lol. The pond was also a designated birdwatching area, and some serious birdwatchers & biologists & ornithologists and whoever else would come there to check out the birds, and possibly count them.

The maintenance barn where I worked at the time (huge metal building like a warehouse) was right across the dirt road from the pond, so I'd often wander over there during breaks or lunch and talk to the birders, aye? Some of 'em had gear & cameras worth THOUSANDS of dollars, they were some SE-WIOUS BIRDERS, lol. Nice folks though...

I like having birds around here on my property... who knows? They might become a FOOD SOURCE one day, lol. In the meantime, I feed 'em and I try to keep the attrition rate down with the cats, but that pesky Tiger is a real hunter, and he'll kill one every so often. Just the way it goes, even though I clear areas round the feeders & birdbaths.

Oh, yeah, going back to those American White Pelicans, I watched them lift off from the water and circle above the pond, then head west toward the beach (475 miles away, not counting the Gulf of California or Sea of Cortez) in a long file, it was a pretty cool sight! Back on the beach, I used to love watching pelicans "ride the peeling waves!" Stylish critters...

 

[Wingnut]

I only found these two pics (so far) of the geese in Green Bay, I thought I had a pic showing a huge flock on the ground, but I may have sent that pic to somebody in the past. Here's what I have:

I thought I had a pic of an outdoor pavilion covered in goose cr@p, but maybe I sent that too... perhaps it's somewhere else in my photo albums and I'll find it later, lol.

 

[Pearl]

Late geese this year!! MANY going over yesterday! Our leaves are starting to turn too!!

 

[Caribou]

I saw southbound geese in the last week, here in Alaska.

 

[Pearl]

I saw southbound geese in the last week, here in Alaska.

They made down here just fine!!

 

[Curmudgeon]

Might need an umbrella if they take a group dump.

As long as you know which way the wind is blowing you know when you can look up!!!(no goose emoji)!

Dirty birdie in the sky why you turdie in my eye, dirty birdie in the sky. Gee I'm glad cows don't fly dirty birdie in the sky.

 

[Pearl]

February 13th....two flocks of geese have gone over heading north!! I'd say that's a sign of early spring!

 

[dademoss]

February 13th....two flocks of geese have gone over heading north!! I'd say that's a sign of early spring!

Illegal geese crossing the border, keep those poop machines out

 

[Supervisor42]

Illegal geese crossing the border, keep those poop machines out

If they are Canadian Geese heading north, they are returning to their home country.

 

[dademoss]

If they are Canadian Geese heading north, they are returning to their home country.

Federally protected border crossers

 

[Supervisor42]

Federally protected border crossers

...Just like all the others .
The cool thing if you ever get to watch a migration is, how many thousands of feet up in the sky they are flying.
All of the pictures of them 'doing their thing' are taken with a long zoom-lens or all you would see are 'V'-shaped lines of black dots.

Canada geese fly in a distinctive V-shaped flight formation, with an altitude of 1 km (3,000 feet) for migration flight. The maximum flight ceiling of Canada geese is unknown, but they have been reported at 9 km (29,000 feet)... .Canada geese can travel 1,500 miles in a day if the weather permits. These birds tend to fly around 40 miles per hour during migration, though that can increase up to 70 miles per hour if they catch a strong tailwind. Migrating groups tend to have 30 to 100 birds.

 

[Patchouli]

@Pearl if you start seeing more hawks and kites in the trees and on the wing use your binoculars to look up. We’ve seen them so high up here you can’t see them without binoculars. Also migrating by the tens of thousands across Texas. It is amazing.

 

[Pearl]

@Pearl if you start seeing more hawks and kites in the trees and on the wing use your binoculars to look up. We’ve seen them so high up here you can’t see them without binoculars. Also migrating by the tens of thousands across Texas. It is amazing.

Once the Kites are here, it is definitely spring! Saw a lot of geese again today!!

 

[dademoss]

...Just like all the others .
The cool thing if you ever get to watch a migration is, how many thousands of feet up in the sky they are flying.
All of the pictures of them 'doing their thing' are taken with a long zoom-lens or all you would see are 'V'-shaped lines of black dots.

not here. They are on strafing/bombing runs this far north.

 

[Supervisor42]

not here. They are on strafing/bombing runs this far north.

They are supposed to wait until they get to Canada before they start 'lubricating' the sidewalks .
Do you guys have a Canadian flag out by chance?

 

[dademoss]

They are supposed to wait until they get to Canada before they start 'lubricating' the sidewalks .
Do you guys have a Canadian flag out by chance?

NAH, this is supposed to be "flyover country"

Darn geese can't read

 

[Caribou]

Time to load the 10 Ga.

 

[Pearl]

Lots of geese yesterday! It's warm here, they might take a quick vacation before moving on!!

 

[SoulSeeker]

I remember being about 10yrs old getting up with dad to go goose hunting with my uncle and younger cousin. Uncle had a black lab to retrieve downed birds and whatever. He used a 10ga long tom to reach way up and bring one down. Didn't kill it just couldn't fly. He threw bird and dog in back of station wagon with cousin and I in in back seat. Dog started chasing bird and both were biting us as they did laps in the back! Dad and uncle giggling in front seat until we started getting in the front with them! My cousin has no memory of this and think it was traumatic for him because he got the worse bites by both dog and goose. The fond memories of my youth!

 

[Pearl]

Saw more today! I guess winter is finally coming!!