Big Yard Birds

This is the time of year when the size of the birds visiting my feeder suddenly increases.  For the past couple of weeks, this pair of Canada Geese has been making regular morning visits to my yard.  A lot of loud honking advertises their intent to make a splash down on the pond in front of the house.

They spend a few minutes eating some of the submerged greenery around the edge of the pond. 

I believe this pair is nesting near a neighbor’s pond.  Each morning and evening the geese fly a circuit around the area, noisily announcing the fact that this is their chosen territory and other geese should stay away.

After a few minutes in the water, the geese normally have a little foot race up to the feeder to gobble down some cracked corn.  However, on this particular morning, they have come to a halt at the top of the pond embankment.  For some reason, they are not running for the food.

Turkeys have beaten the geese to the feast.  A flock of turkeys generally has the feeding area all to itself.  The geese may be large, but they won’t try to move in on the turkeys.

Wild Turkeys typically spend the winter in the woods.  Once breeding season arrives, the turkeys suddenly show up back in the yard.  Hens, Jakes and Toms will travel in mixed flocks of 12 to 18 birds.  Sometimes two or three of these flocks will show up in the yard at the same time. It may be that food in the woods is becoming harder to secure or it could be that the turkeys are wanting to bulk up for their breeding efforts.  Whatever the reason, spring seems to signal the arrival of the big yard birds.  It also means I have to watch where I step when I go out to fill the feeders.

New Feeder Bird

I added a new bird species to my feeder list when a pair of Canada Geese dropped in to claim their share of cracked corn.  Geese have been nesting in nearby ponds for more than 20 years and I’ve become used to their evening flyovers as they loudly give notice that this area is part of their territory.  This is the first time any have actually landed here.

 

I heard the honking long before the geese ever touched down in the back yard.  It seems that a loud fanfare is required for every takeoff or landing.  The pair spent a quiet few minutes grazing grass and posing like high class lawn ornaments.

Suddenly the decision was reached to feast on corn and the pair hurried over to partake of that bounty.

Back in the 70’s, I worked as a greenskeeper at the local golf course.  It became fashionable for courses to have one or two pairs of Canada Geese on the grounds.  The course I worked for followed the trend and brought in a mated pair of geese.  In order to keep the geese in place, flight feathers on the female were trimmed to prevent her from flying.  From those two eventually developed a flock of over 50 and it seemed that the entire course was constantly littered with goose droppings.  The course owners regretted ever forcing the original pair to stay.  I get enough mess from the deer and turkey.  I don’t want to add geese to that list.

As a casual visitor, the geese are fine and fun to watch.  One member of the pair would always be on guard while the other ate.  They would periodically switch positions.

The regular feeder visitors were wary of the new arrivals.  Their standard safe distance from a turkey is only half of that given to the geese.

It’s too early to tell if these two will be regular visitors to the feeder.  It might be better if we went back to our original arrangement and our encounters were just the occasional flyby.