First some updates & observations, then some thoughts. Day before yesterday (31 March) the Snow Goose was grazing on the lawn between the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and Cayuga Inlet still opposite Union Fields in the morning. Through binoculars I watched from near the pavilion north of the Children’s Garden as a guy with a dog on a long and nearly invisible leash walked past. The dog was curious about the goose and started to approach it. The goose walked over to the top of the steep embankment above the water. Whether oblivious or deliberately, the owner continued walking such that the leash prevented the dog from reaching the goose, who stayed put as the dog was led away. The goose clearly prefers not leaving the lawn although it is prepared to do so if forced.
Later that morning I was at Allan Treman and a different dog owner asked me about the white bird on the lawn along the Inlet. I described the black wingtips of the Snow Goose, and although he is pretty observant he said he didn’t notice that, even though during the course of our conversation I learned that, because the guy was curious, he had approached the goose but neglected to restrain the dog, who drove the goose first down the embankment, then into the water. If it had spread its wings, the guy surely would have seen the contrasting black. This says to me that this goose is either extremely reluctant or unable to fly. When I returned home along that stretch of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, I saw that the Snow Goose had moved considerably south. My guess is that happened when it got chased into the water, and it swam away. Anyway the bird was opposite the south end of the Children’s Garden, and it was on the side of the Waterfront Trail closer to the road. In that place, the road shoulder is made extra wide where drivers have pulled over. There’s lots of gravel and a big puddle of water but only a narrow bit of grass there. From my distant view through optics I couldn’t tell whether the goose was grazing, or consuming gravel to grind the grass in its gizzard, or getting drink from the puddle. But I did hear a nervous driver blow their horn, successfully scaring the goose away from the road. The Snow Goose ran across the trail and onto the wider lawn, but did not go all the way to the top of the embankment. Most cars didn’t bother it, but the one that made a loud noise right next to it was surprisingly unpleasant. Yet the nasty car continued on without further threat, so the goose could continue grazing. What caught my eye in this interaction was that the goose spread its wings as it ran. They appeared whole, level, and symmetrical. They may have been used for balance, or they may have been spread reflexively, or they may have been spread in preparation to fly had that been necessary, but the wings were not obviously flapped or used for power. By the way, on the subject of water, on a different day Rick & Carol observed the Snow Goose walk down to the Inlet, take a drink, and walk back up without apparent difficulty. So it’s not that it can’t climb the embankment, it prefers not to unless necessary. Yesterday (Saturday 1 April), was warm and sunny with a south breeze. The Cayuga Waterfront Trail was very popular among people walking, running, biking, and roller-blading. I addition it was the day of the first rowing meet of the season, so it was kind of a carnival. People were set up in lawn chairs scattered along the top of the embankment, and periodically a trio of racing shells would come by, to the accompaniment of lots of yelling by the nearby people, plus a group of bike riders keeping pace on the path, each with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding a cell-phone to video their school’s team, while not actually watching where they were going. Early on I had noticed the local pair of Canada Geese fly out and alight in the unused part of the cove north of the boathouses; they were having none of that mayhem. But the Snow Goose decided to put up with all the traffic, noting that nobody paid it any attention, and it kept grazing between the Waterfront Trail and the Inlet. By late afternoon, the sky had clouded up, rain was threatening, and most people had left. The Snow Goose was so far south that it was alongside where Taughannock Boulevard is still sloped coming down from the bridge. I was biking toward it slowly from the north behind 2 pedestrians, while another pair of pedestrians approached it from the south. The bird was on the narrow bit of grass between the trail and the sidewalk. It opted to side over toward the water’s edge rather than be pinned behind such a crowd. I don’t know whether the presence of me, the guy who stares, was a factor in that decision. Today is sunny but cold with a strong north wind. There are few people on the trail considering it’s a sunny Sunday. At mid-day the Snow Goose was farther north, grazing. I didn’t go close enough to get an angle to say exactly where, but not as far north as the finish line. No matter, the circus has moved on. You may know that waterfowl molt all their flight feathers at once. Among Canada Geese it coincides when the period when they are attending and protecting their flightless young, and the lawns are littered with feathers. Flotillas of geese swimming past on the Inlet is to be expected then. What you may not know is that sometimes in winter Canada Geese also commute in a slow swimming parade between overnight safety on the lake and daytime grazing atop the banks south of the Octopus. Could they fly? Sure, but the energy budget is tight then, and grass has low caloric value. I think they swim to save energy. Can this Snow Goose fly? I don’t know, but it certainly seems to be choosing to stay close enough to the water that it doesn’t have to. Will it regain the ability and impetus to fly, perhaps healing from whatever injury cut short this year’s migration? If it crosses Taughannock Boulevard that will denote a change in the equation. Either it will have become more confident in park patrons, or more confident in its ability to escape, or it will seek a bigger or fresher supply of food. I’d rather have geese than lawnmowers. Why the discussion of a single Snow Goose? It’s a great chance for lots of people to see this species up close; to see how it interacts with everyone along the narrow strip of lawn it has adopted; to compare with the lives of other geese here who are not so exotic; to consider why it didn’t complete its migration along with the hundreds of thousands of Snow Geese who sometimes pass through the Cayuga Lake Basin in March; to consider what of its behavior is normal; and particularly to answer whether this bird, which many people have noticed, is dangerously diseased and should be euthanized, or would benefit from human “rehabilitation” and should be removed, also I believe, with a high chance of being euthanized, and a low chance of completing its trip to the Canadian Arctic. As someone who lately does very little driving to see birds, I think this is the first Snow Goose this year that I have seen so close, and I am grateful that this bird, which I think has had a tough time, chose my neighborhood. - - Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
