BRING BACK THE FLOCK

[Backwards bleed]

Aren't they SUPPOSED to migrate? And make their nests in the tundra, where egg oiling isn't an issue? Seems like creating more residents is part of the problem, not the solution.

You need to educate yourself on the history of the giant canada.

 

[CanardNoir]

BRING BACK THE FLOCK

We need to start a movement to bring back our Canada Goose flock in Southern Illinois. Time for the establishment of a resident flock of Canada Geese by the use of nesting boxes. We have done a good job with the placement of wood duck boxes in our wildlife areas, everyone is always encouraged to build and place wood duck boxes, the same thing needs to be done for Canada Geese.

When you look at the aerial surveys for waterfowl this past year, take January 23, 2023 for example, it showed only 2,003 Canada geese in Southern Illinois! Union county had 32 and Horseshoe had 45, with Crab Orchard holding the most at 907. Gone are the days when thousands of Canada’s were found in these areas, and really the reason why they were built and existed was for the management of Canada Geese!

I am not going to go into why these geese have gone, there are many variables in this equation and wanting to stay positive let’s just say what has been done, is done. Let’s start a new program aimed at building a resident flock for Southern Illinois. Let’s dedicate ourselves to placing goose nesting structures everywhere we can, Driving along the interstates we have hundreds of borrow pits with stable water that would be perfect for these nest structures as well as farm ponds all across Southern Illinois.

I would latelike to see all our waterfowl organizations commit to helping place these nest structures everywhere we can. Goose nesting structures are very effective, lets get the ball rolling and help bring back the flock to Southern Illinois! Who is in?

You may not recall, but the State (at least on Horseshoe Lake) had a massive feeding program on the south end of the refuge - refuge workers dumped corn from the bed of dump trucks, I saw them do this during the late-1970s qnd early-1980s. So modifying the behavior of the Mississippi Flyway flock was not a short term change. And by the late-1990s corn production further south was beginning to increase so a population shift was in order. And on top of all that, the 1992/93 Mississippi River flood deposited 2-3-4-5-feet of River sand on top of some of the best corn acreage in the State & Region, so when you control the food, you control the resource... Sisters' Island and the Millier City area have both suffered the same fate.

 

[CanardNoir]

Sounds good until you realize many states and communities are doing everything they can to knock back resident populations. Egg oiling, depredation permits, special hunts etc. Going to be hard to get any waterfowl orgs to back it.

Not just "resident" birds either! When I lived outside of DC (early-2000), the USF&WS had a massive kill of migratory birds near the Manasas VA airport - no cannon nets or propane cannons for those poor birds!

 

[JDOWEN]

Your only hope is to build a bunch of 3 to 8 story high office buildings along with some apartment complexes all with their little water retention ponds. Then put in new neighborhoods all over the area with their neighborhood ponds. Before you know it, you won't be able to walk down the sidewalks due to all the goose crap. I believe that is because when all of the above takes place, most all of the hunting is banned via new "city limit" boundaries and the geese flourish. After being hatched in those areas and not being bothered for a few years, you can't drive them away. In my area their numbers continue to grow every year to the point that they do become a nuisance. But many birds still fly out of the city several times a day to feed in the surrounding corn fields and then return to what has become their in-town refuge where they are safe. They don't migrate. They become a permanent ficture. The DNR has relocated thousands and as someone pointed out, they all came back within 5 days. I agree that nesting boxes (by the thousands) might help but only if hunting was banned for a many years. JMHO

 

[CanardNoir]

It doesn’t work. This has been tried many times in multiple areas. As soon as the transplanted birds regain their ability to fly they go right back to where they were transplanted from.

We have resident Canada geese (some 'giants') down here on the Gulf Coast. They weren't transplants and Canada geese use to be a common sight every fall around the NWR at St. Marks FL! Maybe they just like the Southern golf courses better than those further north? During the late-1940s-early-1950s - My father was a member of a goose hunting club near what is now Wheeler NWR in ALabama. And that lease was then-sponsored by the Izaac Walton League... Migratory bird movement has a long and challenging history and it's not completely weather related.

 

[Mallard-mauler]

Horicon marsh used to hold all the southern Illinois birds on way there. Now there’s lucky to be 5000 in there in the fall. The birds have since spread out and adapted to modern agriculture and other changes.

 

[All Day]

Our goose nesting program here in Washington has been a total success. We found landowners that let us place nesting platforms and they get a 100% hatch rate. ALL geese are migraters. There is no such thing as a "resident goose". At least here. Banding reports prove that they migrate but just not to the latitudes that most geese follow. Our goose population is such that we get a late goose season.
www.waduck.org

 

[bird junkie]

Not just "resident" birds either! When I lived outside of DC (early-2000), the USF&WS had a massive kill of migratory birds near the Manasas VA airport - no cannon nets or propane cannons for those poor birds!

I am not familiar with that where did they do that? What lake?

 

[riverrat47]

An interesting report on the Len Small Levee/Horseshoe Lake area.

Why Does the Repaired Len Small Levee, Alexander County, Illinois, US Continue to Breach during Major Flooding Events?

One only needs to study the soil and geologic history and location of the ancient Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to understand why Len Small levee if patched will continue to fail. Much of Dogtooth Bend located in Alexander County, Illinois was originally in the ancient Ohio River valley (Figure 1)...

www.scirp.org

 

[JTerrell]

So how do you tell a "nuisance goose" from one that minds their own business?