Maybe it’s just me, but there seems to be a lot of geese around over the past few months.
It could be the effects of climate change. Maybe their wings are getting tired faster and they don’t want to fly any further south. Maybe there is something truly delicious hiding in the grass around here. Or maybe there are actually more of them. But the dreaded “cobra chicken” seems more numerous lately.
If you look it up, most of the Canada geese we see in Nova Scotia are supposed to be tourists. Just passing through, checking out the sights on their way either further south or further north. Only they don’t seem to be getting the memo about moving on.
Last night I walked outside, looked up, and a flock of geese in a lovely V formation flew over. Not unusual. It’s March. About time for them to be heading back north and getting ready to nest. Although they weren’t very high in the sky, so I suspect they were cruising for a landing strip.
I’ve also been spotting them pretty much all winter. Gathering on lawns or swimming around. Not really a huge surprise, since it was a fairly open winter. And for those who spend the summer in northern Labrador, Nova Scotia in winter might not look so bad.
But it seems they aren’t just passing through as much as they once did. Like a lot of others around the country, they seem to have figured out that Nova Scotia isn’t a bad place to settle down. Raise a family. Maybe chase a few people around. Pretty good spot if you’re a goose.
But I don’t remember seeing them around in such numbers as there have been over the past couple years. I have heard others in other parts of the country, complaining about increasing numbers of geese and what they tend to leave behind. They also don’t tend to be too friendly, during nesting season in particular.
I think it’s kind of nice to see them around.
Then again, they’re not sitting on my lawn.