bird babies

[christie]

I'm wondering why there are hardly any goslings or ducklings in Hign Park.  Today I only saw 6 of each. Is there something I'm not aware of going on?

[David the park stroller]

I think that there is an active "egg oiling" program carried out to keep populations [especially Canada geese] in check, as in years past.  But it seems that there are fewer squirrels and chipmunks too this year compared to last I think so there must be a larger predator presence [hawks and owls] active in the park. Also the ducklings especially are vulnerable to fish like pike and the water quality improvement in Grenadier Pond has increased their numbers.  The ones you do see are certainly sweet though! It's a hard heart that doesn't love a baby bird.

[Ron Luft]

As a High Park volunteer I'm not so sure there is an active program of egg oiling of geese and duck nests. There probably aren't that many goose and duck nests in the park as there isn't alot of habitat, or alot that hasn't been heavily disrupted. The decline may be as suggested by the 'wraith' "David the Park stroller" suggests as being a product of predation (by foxes, raccoons, raptors, dogs and cats to name a few). The C.G. population used to number in the 3-400's and I don't think there are anywhere near that number now. The numbers of all the predators have increased in recent years and are helping to control the numbers of geese, ducks, squirrels etc. Couple that with an active effort to reduce the amount of food (stale bread) dumped in the park and an increase in natural vegetation Canada Geese numbers are off, but hopefully so are their droppings. Geese don't like high growth vegetation because they cannot over see their brood and the high stuff can also hide the predators. I can asure you likewise that on a recent trip out of the city that babies are still being adequately reared and live quite well, especially on golf courses, and mown lawns beside ponds.

[David the park stroller]

Thanks for the update AND THE WISE WORDS! It was actually a city parks employee a few years back who told me they oiled the eggs.  i'm sure that none of the species we see on the ponds are in any real danger of extirpation.

[Julia]

I have an allotment garden in High Park, and I have noticed that there have been nowhere *near* as many chipmunks the last two summers as there were before.  When I first got my garden four years ago you couldn't plant anything without the chipmunks digging the seeds up and eating them, and what did sprout was immediately eaten anyway.  My own "pop sci" theory is that the wave of mange that swept through southern Ontario and knocked off the foxes and coyotes in turn caused a boom in the chipmunk population due to lack of predation.  Either because the predators are back or through other overpopulation pressures, the numbers seemed to crash last year.  My observations (casual as they may be) seem to point to a few more Chippies this year than last, but maybe it depends on what part of the park you're looking in.

As for the geese, I think their numbers will go down with the rehabilition of the areas surrounding Grenadier pond - apparently geese can't digest grass longer than about two inches, and so they don't flock in numbers as large in areas where there isn't any.

BTW, I saw a red squirrel in the park this year, first time ever, didn't know they turned up this far south.

Julia

[David the park stroller]

There's a red "pine" squirrel or two that frequent the tall pines at the south end of the park. shy, but we've seen them there off and on over the last few years. Takes me back to Alqonquin!