Trego's Mountain Ear

This summer has been a rough one on our nesting Canada geese.  Gander, his new goose, and their goslings got through fine – fairly typical for Gander.  On the other hand, one flock had both parent geese killed by the bald eagle, and only two of the young survived.  They made one trip out with Gander and his flock, then returned from one of Gander’s training flights and made the decision to hang out in the field.  Another singleton has joined them . . . so we’re watching three young geese who can fly, but are not putting in the effort Gander usually demands of his flock.

Gander’s last return showed a flock landing on the pond in near perfect formation.  The orphans, on the other hand, have finally managed a low elevation flight across the field without hitting wings.  I’ve noticed how hard Gander works at flight training each summer.  This is the first summer I’ve observed young geese who don’t get the picture.

I don’t know how they’re going to handle the fall migration – Gander and his crew are adding in other small flocks and continuing to coordinate a bunch of lesser Canada geese.  These guys are just hanging out, not particularly improving their skills or strength.  We may learn something as the seasons turn around again.