Hi tweets! i went up to Tennant Lake nw of Bellingham this morning and was
amazed at the large number of Canada geese with babies. Someone had put a
sign along the road saying to watch out for baby geese and they weren't
kidding! I'd say that there were about 25 pairs with week-old goslings,
some swimming together but most along the shore. Of these, most clutches
consisted of 4-6 goslings but I came upon one with 28!!!!!! They followed
their parents into the water and swam behind them. There was another pair
of adults nearby (50') but they paid no attention to one another. Then i
came upon a second family group that was about 100' from the lake. Here,
the parents were being followed by 31 goslings!!!!! There were no other
geese nearby. I went home and looked in my Kortright (1976 ed. Ducks,
Geese, and Swans of N. America) and found that the
average clutch is 4-5 birds throughout N.A. They mentioned, however, of
group broods or amalgamated broods, where very young goslings are adopted
by one set of parents. I suppose this is going on at an unprecedented scale
at Lake Terrell?
Aside from this unusual behavior,the migrants I was searching for were
conspicuous by their absence.I found one early Bullock's Oriole and lots of
swallows still over the water (all except Banks were present with Cliffs by
far the most numerous). No Yellow-rumps! 1-2 Or.-Crowns singing, plus many,
many C. Yellowthroats. The same for Tennant Lake where I saw my first
Yellow Warbler of the year and nothing else except swallows and
yellowthroats. Looks like most of the migration is yet to happen.
Clark Blake phone: (360) 650-3595
Department of Geology fax: (360) 650-7302
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225