Canada geese

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 I was checking up on the little nature reserve I help to look after at Tarn Sike yesterday. I managed to take a few photos I was pleased with of the Canada geese there. These are really common birds but I decided to do some research on them and thought it worth sharing the results.


These birds are native to North America. In their natural habitat they are migratory heading South each year to avoid the rigours of the Canadian winter. The birds that we have in this country were introduced as a  novelty to St Jame's Park in London as early as the 17th Century and the birds we see now are descended from them. The population of birds that we have in this country have no need to migrate as our winters are much milder than in Canada so they stay put all year round. These are very common birds nowadays. Population estimates for the UK are in the order of 62,000 breeding pairs. We did a boat trip of 80 miles along an English canal last week and Canada geese were far and away the most common wildfowl. What with grey squirrel and Canada geese Londoners probably see more introduced wildlife than our own native species! The geese are mostly grazers and crop grasses very low. In some areas they are seen as a nuisance and they can be very aggressive about being fed in areas where humans have put out food for them.

Diary.
Last night was the first time this year that we haven't needed the central heating on! Camera traps revealed the usual rabbits , a heron, mallard ducks. I am posting a clip from yesterday that I forgot about of a tawny owl doing a fly past .
We saw a roe deer out in the open a couple of fields away this morning.




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