{"id":7618,"date":"2019-03-31T10:23:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T14:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=7618"},"modified":"2019-03-31T10:23:41","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T14:23:41","slug":"not-my-usual-sign-of-spring-canada-goose-fight-in-a-furious-flurry-of-wings-and-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/not-my-usual-sign-of-spring-canada-goose-fight-in-a-furious-flurry-of-wings-and-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Not My Usual Sign of Spring: Canada Goose Fight in a Furious Flurry of Wings and Water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spring is a bit late in arriving this year but on a cold and frosty Saturday morning I found some familiar signs while strolling around a storm water pond in Oakville. One sight I didn’t expect to see was a long vicious fight between two Canada Geese that had water flying and wings battering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Red-winged Blackbird males fly back first and their chirk-a-ree calls advertise their arrival.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Spring Migrants and Late Winter Survivors Cheer Up a Spring Walk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I walked around the storm water ponds at 6th Line in Oakville on a late March Saturday morning, I found many “spring” birds. Some of them had actually wintered-over successfully, but others were early migrants returning to find territories or keep flying further north as soon as the ice melts out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This American Robin seems like a new spring arrival but it probably actually over-wintered in the neighbourhood.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The maple flower buds are swelling but didn’t seem fully open yet. A few more days in the sun though and I’m sure I’ll be sneezing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Song Sparrows were singing both in the reeds and from the tips of branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And of course the Mallards have paired up hopefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I tried to sneak up on a male Bufflehead duck. Each time it dove, I would move a few steps closer to the pond, hoping to get a decent photo. It was too cold and bright for me to feel like trying to adjust the settings of my camera so I still didn’t get the colours the way I wanted, but I did get some really good looks at this amusing duck as it popped back up to the surface between hunts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The main event, though was a fight!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada Geese Attack In a Wing-Bashing, Water-splashing Free-for-All<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve seen Canada Geese drive a rival away from their nest site or even a mate with a few loud honks and a running lunge This freezing morning, though, I saw an actual battle which went on for over five minutes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eventually one of the birds broke free and flew off across the pond. Then you could hear the Song Sparrows singing again, and the Red-winged Blackbirds calling. I think I prefer birds that fight using their voices!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n