Birds and animals of 2012
- Feb 3, 2012
- Posted By: Clive Schaupmeyer
- Tags: none
February 3, 2012
Hi folks:
A few snapshots of birds and critters from 2012.
Why so many geese? Because there are a lot around here. Most of the goose photos are taken within 200 to 400 meters of our house.
For those who don't know, Willie and I live across the street from a large park (on the northern edge of Coaldale) that has marshes and ponds. The Alberta Birds of Prey is also inside the park area. So the setup makes for good recreation for me. ☺
For decades, a few thousands geese overwinter in the area because the nearby Oldman River stays partly open downstream from Lethbridge. Because we normally get little snow here, there is usually easy access to grain for the geese to feed on all winter. This winter (2011-2012) has been almost snow-free. However, fields were mostly snow-covered in the winter of 2010-2011 from November to April. Then in "spring" 2011, late snows covered female geese on nest and many eggs perished. There we few local goslings in 2011.
Clive
PS: You might be interested in this interesting behaviour of geese and other waterfowl. It is called whiffling. See below. ☺
