Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Dangerously high Canada Goose nest: Intervention
Date: Apr 22 08:33:43 2011
From: Ron McCluskey - rmcclsky at mindspring.com


I know that I have read elsewhere of Canada Geese nesting on cliffs and having the babies fall within a day of hatching. (Along the Columbia Gorge is my memory serves.) Here is one reference that you can see online:

http://books.google.com/books?id=LEHmk-8V0rYC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=goslings+fall+nest+cliff&source=bl&ots=4a0KSMw4fQ&sig=zj8HlCQzZ7HeYLCC5ueEgfRgxOw&hl=en&ei=6JmxTfr6JK7RiAKJ6b2wBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=goslings%20fall%20nest%20cliff&f=false

You will have to copy and paste each line into the browser window to get that to work. It is the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta. Also the note on Barnacle Goose in Wikipedia says that "their small size, feathery down, and very light weight helps to protect some of them from serious injury when they hit the rocks below, but many die from the impact"

So, it is a trade-off. You get protection for the eggs until they hatch, but you have the risk of many of them dying when they are just hatched. Many of the nests of ground nesting birds are raided by foxes, coyotes, racoons...

One problem that you face is that if you disturb the nest the parents may abandon it and not bond with the hatchlings. Then you either have to raise them and try to get them naturalized or they die anyway.

So, if you are planning to interfere at all, I would definitely try to get some local professional help.

Good luck, and keep us posted.
Ron McCluskey
Cheney, WA
rmcclsky a mindspring d com