Tweets, this current thread joggles an old memory...........

I lived in Logan, Utah (Cache Valley-lovely place with huge marsh and
spectacular mountains) from 1988-spring 1992. During one of our Audubon
chapter field trips, we found a pair of Canada geese nesting in a
vacant Great Blue heron nest right in the middle of an active Conifer-
sited heronry with heron parents all around feeding heronlets. The herons
didn't seem to mind the geese taking over an empty spot, and it looked
like the geese had added more material, perhaps marsh grasses, plumping
up the original nest structure. The geese were still on their eggs, and we
supposed the babies just launched themselves out of the trees after they
hatched! The local fish&wildlife people were keeping an eye on the goose
nest to document the unusual phenomenon.

Really amazing!
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA
*****************************************
On Thu, 13 Nov 1997, Diann MacRae wrote:

> At 07:56 PM, 13 Nov 97, Bob Taylor wrote:
>
> > The park supervisor also told me of Canada Geese nesting on the top of
> Smith Rocks (several hundred feet above the river) and their young's waddle
> to the edge, jump off and bounce to the water. Haven't seen it for myself
> but it makes a good story. I have seen Canadas on top but not at nests.
> Perhaps the high rocks create an 'island' effect that would protect against
> predators in the area? >
>
> Don't relegate those little jumping geese to the urban trash pile yet!
> Canadas nest on many of the cliffs near the lakes in Moses Coulee, for an
> example. At Sun Lakes State Park, one can see the adult geese on the nest
> fairly high up on the cliff. Haven't actually seen the goslings jump off,
> but the ranger says they do it all the time, and there certainly are a lot
> of young geese around the area in April.
>
> Diann MacRae, tvulture at halcyon.com
>