SILLY GOOSE!

Chuck came running into the bedroom this morning while I was still asleep, excitedly talking about a bird outside that I needed to see. He ran to the window disappointed to find it was gone.

I thought maybe the lime-green bird he had spotted a few weeks ago had returned and if I could catch a glimpse of it, maybe we would finally be able to identify it.  This mystery bird has been driving Chuck crazy. I am not aware of any lime green birds in the wild living this far north.  There are probably tropical birds of that hue, but the only thing I can imagine to fit that description around here would be someone's escaped parakeet. He has been searching the internet trying to find a picture that corresponds with what he saw- so far no luck.

However, the bird that caused the excitement this morning was larger. Much larger. It was a bird we were both very familiar with and had no trouble identifying. A Canadian Goose. Canada Geese are common in the United States, and they are as common a sighting here in Utah as they were in Washington State.

We have a resident bonded pair that live on the golf course. They always stay together on a little grassy knoll that rises on the other side of the creek from our house.  We frequently pass them when we are out strolling the course in the evenings. They rarely leave that area, even though it doesn't look as though they are nesting yet.

I did actually see them fly last night. As we sat eating dinner, Chuck noticed two coyotes trotting right down the middle of the golf course in broad daylight, which prompted the birds to take flight.  But usually, they just hang out on the spot of turf they seemed to have claimed as theirs, and don't move around much even when the golfers are playing through.

When Chuck showed me the pictures that he took of this goose I was astonished. Chuck was sitting in his favorite chair by the fireplace in the living room facing the golf course answering emails and getting ready to hop in the shower when this crazy bird took flight and landed on our deck railing.  And just STAYED THERE.

It was so out of character for a goose to land on a railing like that. Geese are always in the water, or on the grass.  I've never seen them in trees, or perched on rocks or other high places.  They don't roost in high places like most other birds do, they nest on the ground.

Canadian Geese are huge birds with a 5-6 foot wingspan, and very large webbed feet. Its not like they have talons for clinging to something narrow.  I was surprised he was able to balance up there as well as he was.

Living in Washington and spending my days walking dogs at all the city parks as well as off-leash parks, the large number of Canada Geese that frequented those grassy public spaces seemed to be a nuisance. You always had to be careful where you stepped because their droppings were every where. The droppings fouled the public beaches and some times made the lakes dirty and uninviting.  They could become aggressive if they were nesting, or if you had food they wanted.

Luckily, here on the golf course we just have this single bonded pair. I have learned that Canadian geese are monogamous, mating for life when they are 2 years old. They live a long time- usually 15-25 years. In New York there is a Canadian Goose that was tagged as a hatchling that is 31 years old and still going strong.

There never seems to be a dull moment living on this golf course.  The wildlife seem to think this huge, well-maintained meadow is at their disposal and it provides Chuck and I with endless entertainment.