32 Fowl Weather Friends

FTLComm - Tisdale - March 25, 1999

Though Geese have been spotted all across the prairies and I saw a group at Birch Hills last Sunday, the local summer residents have just arrived after their long trip from the South. This group of thirty two are at the Tisdale Wildlife Federation refuge near the town lagoon and even though I moved up quietly and against the wind, they took no chances with me and got up in the air to be safe.

As a child I only saw geese during fall and spring migrations as the prairie population had been destroyed by pesticides during the early part of this century. It was the work of Fred Bard at the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural history who with volunteers nurtured the Regina colony until their

offspring populate the entire province. During my first year of college in Regina I recall volunteers working with the small group of birds that refused to go South and stayed around the open water at the Regina power station. Today that group is so large and often less then well mannered, that walking in Wascana Park requires shoes that can be easily cleaned and at times, nerves of steel are needed, as the big honkers are well aware of the way they can intimidate humans.

The resurgence and prosperity of the Canada goose population in Saskatchewan is a truly remarkable success story of this century and they will be here for centuries to come for others to marvel at their outstanding navigation and ability to handle adversity.

It is really good to see them back and I look forward to seeing them in the sky and fields from now until September when they book their flight for the fall to the more favourable temperate climate to the South.

(Editor's note: I have a temporary problem with video capture as the transition to my new computer is not complete and have to rely upon the wide angle lens of my digital camera rather then focus on these guys with the telephoto lens of the video camera. ATI assures me that I should be able to capture images very shortly, they replaced my video card but problems persist with conflicts between the Xclaim VR card and the new G3 Pro's Rage 128 card)


*FTLComm - Tisdale - March 25, 1999*
Though Geese have been spotted all across the prairies and I saw a group at Birch Hills last Sunday, the local summer residents have just arrived after their long trip from the South. This group of thirty two are at the Tisdale Wildlife Federation refuge near the town lagoon and even though I moved up quietly and against the wind, they took no chances with me and got up in the air to be safe. As a child I only saw geese during fall and spring migrations as the prairie population had been destroyed by pesticides during the early part of this century. It was the work of Fred Bard at the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural history who with volunteers nurtured the Regina colony until their

offspring populate the entire province. During my first year of college in Regina I recall volunteers working with the small group of birds that refused to go South and stayed around the open water at the Regina power station. Today that group is so large and often less then well mannered, that walking in Wascana Park requires shoes that can be easily cleaned and at times, nerves of steel are needed, as the big honkers are well aware of the way they can intimidate humans.

The resurgence and prosperity of the Canada goose population in Saskatchewan is a truly remarkable success story of this century and they will be here for centuries to come for others to marvel at their outstanding navigation and ability to handle adversity.

It is really good to see them back and I look forward to seeing them in the sky and fields from now until September when they book their flight for the fall to the more favourable temperate climate to the South.

(Editor's note: I have a temporary problem with video capture as the transition to my new computer is not complete and have to rely upon the wide angle lens of my digital camera rather then focus on these guys with the telephoto lens of the video camera. ATI assures me that I should be able to capture images very shortly, they replaced my video card but problems persist with conflicts between the Xclaim VR card and the new G3 Pro's Rage 128 card)