Outdoor Ontario
Discussion => Behaviour => Topic started by: Axeman on October 30, 2008, 12:18:25 PM
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One of my favourite fall signs are flocks of Canada Geese flying overhead...I'm a few hours nw of Toronto...when you get out of the GTA, the Canada Goose is more like a Bateman painting than the urban nuisance...at least to me, it recaptures its majesty and splendour...and to me, its romantic sight to look above to a bleeding sky filled with flying v's...and hear their trumpeting...but I've noticed that often, they're moving north...or north east...and not south...where are they going? Santa' Workshop?
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It's been suggested to me that Cg's congregate on L.Ont. for winter and no longer do their traditional migrations. Overwintering on lake they are not entirely imune to cold and use flight as excersize to warm up and even search for fields that may still provide fodder before snows. Living in the city south of the airport I often see V's of geese flying south, north, east and west.
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We're a bit of a hike from L. Ontario...a bit south of Owen Sound...that's far even for the geese, although they are apparently very fast fliers
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Think cornfields folks...:)
The geese will always head to areas where they know that they'll find food, and corn fields are a viable source of nutrition until they freeze up. When corn is harvested and the stalks are cut down, it makes the kernels that have fallen to the ground accessible to the geese who gorge themselves until they are satisfied.
They then return to the waterbody they overwinter on to avoid predators like coyotes, foxes, owls, and others who would love a goose dinner which is so easy to get under the cover of darkness.
Hope this helps. :D
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Yep....that makes alottta sense...we're surrounded by cornfields...sometimes I can't fall asleep at night...I keep thinking of the Mel Gibson movie Signs...