The Canada Geese are Back!

The Canada Geese are back! Mother Goose laid her first egg of 2023 this morning at 9:36 AM. Are these the same geese? We don’t know but – like peregrine falcons and many other birds – Canada Geese often return to the same nest year after year. If Mother Goose follows the same laying pattern we saw last year, we could see another egg tomorrow!

We worked with Explore.org to establish a Canada Goose cam this year. Love them? Check it out! https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-goose-cam/. Team #NoGeese? Watch the OG Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/. The geese won’t interrupt HD and HM!

If you watched last year, you’ll remember that goslings leap from the nest 24 to 48 hours after hatch. We’ve got a blog on precocial (goslings) versus altricial (eaglets) here: https://www.raptorresource.org/2022/03/25/canada-geese-precocial-versus-altricial/.

I was quite startled when I checked out the nest last year and didn’t see any eggs after Mother Goose laid her first egg. Where did it go? Mama will periodically leave the nest to eat. When she does, she’ll hide her eggs under sticks, down, and decomposed nest material! Look for five or six more. Last year, full incubation began after the fourth egg.