Inescapable Geese

Hello beloved nature lovers,

As some of you may or may not know, I spent the last half of this term observing the Canada Goose. During my observations, I actively had to search to find these birds around Hanover. I ended up spending most of my time walking to the river where I would seek them out at Foley Park. As many of my fellow classmates (who were observing other species) know, tracking down a certain animal at a certain time is often frustrating. I have had the pleasure of taking several walks without spotting any of the geese (though I have always been able to find something to write about in my nature journal). But, ever since I completed this assignment, Canada geese seem to be haunting me, popping up where I least expect to find them.

This morning was a perfect example of such a find. On my way back to campus after depositing load #2 of my stuff from Dartmouth at my house, I drove by Maple Leaf Farm, my favorite childhood hangout. I have been in love with this farm’s “moo moo cows” since as long as I can remember. So naturally, as my family and I passed the farm field in the car, we had to stop to say “hi” to my favorite friends. My mom immediately pointed out the calf that was sticking to its mother. As she and my younger sister fawned over the baby, my eyes rested on a group of grey-blobs in the distance that was all too familiar. Ah yes, I was looking at a flock of Canada Geese.

Adorable calf and cows featuring Canada Geese (grey blobs behind the cows)

I have literally been driving by this farm for nineteen years and have never seen a single goose. I guess now that I have been paying attention to them, they are paying attention to me by following my every move.

This flock only had 11 geese and they stuck to the outer part of the field, probably keeping their distance from the the other animals. The closest animal that they ventured to was a baby goat, who couldn’t harm a fly.

Baby goat & geese

Now many of you may be wondering, “Well Jenny, what’s the problem with the geese hanging out on the farm?” If you look carefully at the picture, the geese are not simply “hanging out,” they are actually feeding on the grass. “Eat, poop, repeat,” is what I like to call this observation. This is the most common (and annoying) cycle of the Canada Goose. These birds will often spend a majority of their day voraciously eating grass, only to poop it all out (up to three pounds a day, to be exact). So the geese are not only consuming the farm animals’ food supply, but they are also ruining the field with their overwhelming amount of poop! These poor farm animals! Get the geese out!

We screamed from the car, trying to scare them off the field. They didn’t move an inch. The only thing that our shrieks accomplished was attracting a nearby cow.

At least the cow came to say hi. If you look carefully, the geese are the blobs in the distance behind the cow.

I was promptly informed by my sister, a cow fanatic, that cows happen to be very curious and are drawn to many noises. This of course was proven as the cow continued to stare at us as we continued to yell. I guess my next research project should include more geese scare-tactics.

I am off to Beijing for the summer- let’s see if the Canada Goose follows me there!

Love & Geese

Jenny

A Sunrike to Remember

Hello nature fanatics,

Where are my bird lovers at? I have a little story that I know you will appreciate…

Last week a couple of my floormates and I decided that we would go on a sunrike (sunrise hike) as a pre-finals de-stressor. Don’t worry, we didn’t hike anything fancy, just the quick 30-minute walk to Gile Tower. It was a crystal clear morning and a view that I will never forget. But surprisingly, the sunrise was not my highlight of the trip.

Me featuring a beautiful sunrise

On our way back, at around 5:45 AM, our group was welcomed to the day by an overwhelming chorus of birds. The songs seemed like a melody of never repeated notes as they cascaded through the branches. Immediately, I turned on my bird-detective ears. I wanted to use the identification knowledge that I had gained over the course of the term and identify as many birds as possible (thank you nature journaling)

At first, my friends laughed at me as I paused to pull out my phone and record the calls that were echoing around us. I figured out throughout the term that recording the calls first helps me to isolate each bird’s song.

The first call that I was able to point out was a mourning dove. Although this call is one of our most familiar bird sounds, most people do not know that it comes from the Mourning Dove. Its soft, drawn out call sounds like moans or wails. Although we couldn’t see the bird from our position in the woods, we guessed that it had to be close to us based on the loudness of its call. As soon as I identified the mourning dove, the jokes from the peanut gallery stopped. My friends were begging for more.

The next bird that I identified was the Robin. This familiar, cheerful song sounds like a succession of short whistles. There were several Robin calls ringing around us and they only got louder as we made our way down the mountain. My friend Tyler asked me how I could remember these calls and I responded with “it’s like remembering the tune or beat of a song.” Identifying a bird by its call is like figuring out the title of a song from the words in its chorus. Knowing the name of a song makes listening to it even sweeter.

Finally, the last bird I pointed out to the group was a Cardinal. Its call is very loud and sounds like a string of two-parted whistles. The bird almost sounds like its saying “birdie, birdie, birdie” with each set of whistles. As we continued on our walk, we made a game out of calling out the names of each of these birds as their songs came on.

I would say that my friends were more than impressed with my identification skills. I got a lot of “Woah Jennys” and “I want to take this class” comments. So, nature lovers, embrace your knowledge and make sure to share everything you know about our world and its lovely organisms with people you enjoy. I promise it’s a good time.

Peace, Love, and Birds,

Jenny

P.S.

Here’s a link to a great website that has a ton of different bird calls from NH that I found useful if you want to get your own pair of bird-detective ears.

http://www.nhest.org/birdguid.html

P.P.S.

Check out this radical salamander we found halfway down the trail!

What a firey little dude!