On the Street: Geese all over the place

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Two hunch-shouldered herons stood within the shallow waters of Weed Lake.

The sunshine was dim and nonetheless pre-dawn blue however I ended for just a few seconds to knock off an image anyway. I used to be on my solution to search for birds on the prairie sloughs and ponds additional east however, because it’s early days for the autumn migration, I figured I’d higher seize what I may.

Two blue herons, just a few gulls, delicate blue gentle, not a foul solution to begin the day.

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There are a number of massive, shallow our bodies of water due east from town beginning with Weed Lake right here by Langdon, Eagle Lake south of Strathmore and Namaka Lake somewhat bit south from there. They’re all massive our bodies of water surrounded by grain and hay fields, excellent locations for geese and geese migrating from the north to cease and feast on their means towards the Gulf of Mexico.

We’re a methods off the primary stream of the Central Flyway so we don’t get the actually enormous flocks like they do in Saskatchewan, however there are many birds that move by the farmland out east. Pintails, mallards, swans, all of them wing their means by at varied instances within the fall. Most quite a few, although, are the geese. Canada geese, after all, are round right here all 12 months. They keep as a result of the Bow River doesn’t usually freeze stable within the winter in order that they have a secure space to roost and there’s loads to eat within the farm fields shut by. However massive flocks of their extra migratory cousins come by at the moment of 12 months.

With them, although often somewhat later, come the snow geese. They’re unmistakable with their white feathers and an incredible sight to see.

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However the prettiest of all of them — for my part, at the least — are the white-fronted geese.

Chocolate and cream with vibrant orange toes and a white masks, they usually combine with snow geese on the southward trek. They’re not fairly as massive because the snow geese — and perhaps half the dimensions of a Canada — however they’re good-looking birds whether or not on the bottom or within the air.

And I hoped I’d discover some as I drove eastward into the dawn.

The clouds that stored the morning gentle delicate hinted {that a} chinook was about to roll in however the air remained cool and nonetheless. Stopping to {photograph} a younger pheasant strolling on a fence south of Strathmore, I may hear the hum of visitors coming from the large freeway to the north and the chirp and chatter of sparrows and starlings nearer by. South of Eagle Lake, an irrigation stream flowed between banks of neon-green grass whereas hawkweed and alfalfa blossoms glowed within the delicate gentle.

I nonetheless hadn’t seen a lot for birds, although. The south shore of Eagle Lake was barren, only a few coots and mallards. Identical with the north aspect of Namaka Lake. Loads of autumn-brown cattails however just a few birds.

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However on the head of that irrigation ditch there was a pair of sloughs. Not going I’d discover geese there however geese, perhaps.

There have been geese, native nesters like teal and gadwalls, just a few mallards and even a few wigeons. Gulls, too. There was a pair of feedlots, one north, one south, and the slough was an ideal spot for the gulls to relaxation after feeding among the many cattle.

So I aimed my digital camera at them and as I did, over the roar of the feedlot’s mill, I heard geese. Not the braying honks of Canada geese however the peeping chirps of the smaller geese. Wanting up towards the approaching sound, I noticed them, a ragged skein of darkish birds in opposition to the brilliant clouds.

White-fronted geese.

I swung my lens towards them however they have been misplaced in opposition to the sky and it was solely by their cries that I lastly discovered them once more far off over one other slough to the south. Behind them, a small flock of Canada geese adopted by a swift flight of mallards coming from the wrong way.

OK, birds. Time to go try that massive slough.

The sound of vans and trains going by almost drowned them out however I may see little specks on the water that needed to be geese. However even when they weren’t, it was a stunning scene anyway. The solar was starting to interrupt by and vibrant gentle was hitting the mountain peaks to the east whereas the slough lay like a splash of silver, unruffled within the nonetheless air.

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However as I drove across the east finish of the slough and noticed it from a unique angle I may see there have been certainly birds on the water. And, because it turned out, on the sphere beside it, too.

There have been a pair hundred white-fronted geese grazing on the inexperienced rising up among the many harvested windrows and thru my lengthy lens I may see their delicate colors. Along with the orange toes, some had orange payments. Others had pink ones. Their mixed calls made me consider laughing kids.

In truth, their mixed calls sounded means too loud for as few birds as I may see so I stored on driving across the slough. On the south aspect, I discovered extra of them foraging within the fields together with Canada geese and mallards. It was a troublesome place to cease, although, being on the pavement with semis hammering by, so I headed to the subsequent intersection to attempt one other angle.

And as I seemed to my left to verify for visitors, I noticed the primary supply of the sound.

There have been at the least a thousand geese proper beside me, almost all white-fronted with just a few snow geese amongst them as nicely. Pulling over so far as I may and turning on my four-way flashers, I aimed my digital camera out the window to attempt for an image.

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Geese all over the place. From this angle I may see they have been organized into smaller teams, some poking their beaks into the stubble, others retaining watch. They appeared fully unconcerned by both me or the truck visitors on the freeway beside them and ignored a freight prepare coming by on the tracks to the south.

Till it blew its horn.

Then, in a blizzard of wings and a rain of digested grain, those nearer to the tracks exploded into the air and wheeled round over the remainder of the flock. However only for a minute or so once they landed a bit additional out within the discipline.

OK, I assumed, if there are geese right here, perhaps there are extra a bit additional on. Because it seems, no, there weren’t. Ring-billed gulls, sure. Ravens by the dozen. Bald eagles, too. Three in a single tree, two in one other and a fifth off by itself on a useless poplar.

By now I’d spent an hour blasting off footage. And having fun with each second of it. However Stobart Lake was simply down the highway on the Siksika Nation and I used to be curious if there could be extra geese there. So I left these geese behind and went for a glance.

There was one massive flock far out on the lake, means too far for footage, so I stored on going east to see what else I may discover. And simply east of Gleichen, I discovered some extra.

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On a tiny pond proper beside busy Freeway 1 — and I imply proper beside! — a pair hundred white-fronted geese sat watching the automobiles zoom by. Throughout the freeway, on a hay discipline, a pair hundred extra plucked on the alfalfa. Superb to see them so shut however a very harmful spot to cease. I rapidly popped off a pair footage and moved on.

Great! I’d now discovered two massive flocks round small our bodies of water. Bassano and Crawling Valley Reservoir have been only a half-hour additional on. Absolutely there could be extra birds there.

At Crawling Valley, although, all I discovered was a pair of younger red-necked grebes looking by the dam and a few skittish goldeneyes. However there was a bonus.

A whole lot of meadowlarks thronged the grasslands across the reservoir and their music crammed the air. They perched on fenceposts and hunted alongside the ditches, singing as they went. Brewers blackbirds, cowbirds and starlings fashioned massive, wheeling flocks that dove among the many grazing cattle.

At Snake Lake, not distant by Lathom, there have been little teams of yellow-legs wading within the shallows whereas killdeers hunted the shoreline. And there have been geese, too, not on the primary lake however within the small sloughs beside it. There have been extra snow geese right here however some white-fronted as nicely. Flocks of them flew overhead however they weren’t as concentrated as they’d been again by Carseland.

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So I headed again that route, stopping for the rest that caught my eye as I went.

Close to Bassano, there was a fence line internet hosting dozens of clumps of untamed asparagus, the feathery leaves all vibrant yellow and inexperienced with purple berries that caught the faint solar. By Cluny, a lone tree lined up properly with the streaking clouds overhead.

From a hilltop between Gleichen and Stobart, I aimed my digital camera down towards a freight prepare rolling throughout the grasslands of the Siksika Nation and previous the little group of Muskrat. I may simply make out the mountains within the far distance by the haze.

The geese have been nonetheless the place I had left them however now they have been milling round much more, perhaps as a result of a mix was chewing its means by the swathed barley the geese had been feeding on within the morning. Or perhaps they have been simply stressed to be on their means south. Contrasting them, on a pond somewhat additional west, a handful of Canada geese idled the nice and cozy afternoon away, seemingly in no rush to do something. Over the hill, starlings perched on the vanes of an outdated windmill. Native residents, they gained’t be going wherever.

The geese can be, although, and perhaps quickly. However, hopefully, these have been simply the primary wave of the migrants coming by. Based on what I’ve learn, there are over one million white-fronted geese in North America and plenty of instances that variety of snow geese. These ones would possibly transfer on however I’m fairly certain there can be extra to come back.

There are wild geese on the best way.

And I’m greater than able to chase them.

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