We’ve seen a Canada goose nesting up on hatchery rock for at least the last couple of years. But now one is interested interested in N2B! It appears to be checking out the nest pretty seriously at 5:54, settling into a shallow depression and taking the nest bowl for a brief spin before flying out. Did the goose create the scrape? While we didn’t see it on camera, we think it did! We checked over past footage and did not see a scrape until the goose showed up in the nest on the morning of May 11. We saw it again this morning, although Mom chased it away before returning to her perch on the maple. Goose be gone!
Canada geese incubate eggs for about 28 days and young leave the nest permanently shortly after hatching. While they often nest on the ground, it isn’t uncommon for them to ‘borrow’ the unused nests of other birds. Why do young leave the nest so quickly? You can learn a little more about that on our old blogspot: https://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2014/03/canada-geese-precocial-versus-altricial.html
The Raptor Resource Project