Our Canada Geese Return!

What a surprise, when I heard honking overhead this morning - especially since I had been wondering lately if we might be lucky enough to play host to our pair of Canada geese again this year.

Hubby was outside feeding the horses and when he returned to the house, he confirmed that two Canada geese had landed near our pond.

Could it be?  Were these OUR Canada geese, the very same pair that had built a nest and spent significant time on our property last year?

We had been wondering lately .... would they return?

About an hour had passed and again, I heard honking overhead, so I went to the front of the house, and lo and behold, they had moved from the pond to our front pasture, west of our chicken coop.


This was almost a sure sign that this pair was indeed "our" geese, since we had often fed them with chicken scratch at this very location west of our house last year.

We currently don't have any scratch feed, but we do have bird seed, so hubby took a scoop and scattered it for the two geese.  They were hesitant to come too close to him, but once he left, they commenced pecking at the bird seed.


The guineas have been having absolute fits all day.  They are not happy to see these big birds re-invade their turf.  Several of the guineas have been fluffing up their wings and charging the geese.  Last year, the geese put our guineas in their place right quick, pulling out quite a few feathers in the process.  This year, the two geese (so far!) have been pretty complacent, just watching the guineas and their defensive antics.  It is almost as if the geese are yawning and saying "really? is that all you got?"

It will be fun and exciting to see what our pair of geese do this year -- how long will they stay?  will they build a nest by the pond again?  will the eggs outlast our resident coyote population this time?

Only time will tell.

They've been hanging out near the chicken coop in our south and west pastures today. It looks like they might stay awhile.
 

8 comments:

  1. I'm sure they will stay if there is food there! Love to see the mix of the Guineas and the geese :)

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  2. Oh how cool that they came back! I'll be watching for updates!

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  3. Good to hear that your old friends are back; what a welcoming sight. Maybe you can even get them to do a guest blog :).

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  4. Yay! Glad they're back. Loved Slamdunk's idea that you should have them do a blog! But first, you have to think up a name for the pair. :)

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  5. That'd be really cool if they hatched eggs this spring.

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  6. Aw, how neat that you guys got 'your' geese back! Too bad Canadian geese aren't the friendliest creatures on earth, but at least you can admire them and have a careful relationship :)

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  7. I'm so jealous! I've always had this gut reaction/attraction to geese, running outside to look up when I hear or see them going over the house, and have had to be careful that I don't crash my car when I'm driving and see them. Being in a rural area, I see pond areas with dozens foraging and nesting and have to slow to watch them. And one of my favorite movies - Fly Away Home - still brings me to tears even though I own it and have watched it too many times to count! Don't know what it is about them ... but, yes, I am jealous of you getting to have a pair right there in your yard!

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  8. Hey, just dropped in to see what you have been up to. We here in Nebraska are still pretty frozen. The snow has just melted away and the ground is just starting to thaw. I am not sure the lakes have open water just yet.

    I'm glad to read that spring is happening there which means it will be arriving here soon.

    Enjoy your bird watching. Nebraska Dave

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