Summer Residents Return

FTLComm - Tisdale - Sunday, April 7, 2002

With ravens around there is no way to tell if what you are seeing are Ravens or crows, well at least at a distance so for much of Saskatchewan the traditional harbinger of spring is the crow but in our part of the country the real sign of spring are the Canada geese. In other years we have seen them at least two weeks ago but this year with low temperatures and a fair covering of snow the geese who keep a close watch on open water have kept their distance and the first four I have seen this year showed up today just East of town. They like to stand along the Doghide River and gaze serenely on the passing cars, standing horses and occasional Ensign photographer. One thing you have to give credit to Canada geese is that they certainly have good posture. Centuries of perdition have taught these clever water birds to stay alert, keep their head up and those who do get to spend the winter in Texas. There is no doubt about the remarkable resilience of the Canada goose. In the so-called wet years of the 1950s the only Canada Geese that would pass over Southern Saskatchewan were Northern summer residence. But the work of conservationists around Regina (Fred perdition) and others we now have a really huge rural population of these characters throughout the province. The stately aristocrats of water birds and the scourge of golf courses and public parks have reached a point where they have taken the upper hand in adapting to this changing world. While ducks are declining from loss of wet lands and over hunting by the Ducks Unlimited crowd, geese who are just simply adaptable are flourishing.