Wildlife of the James - Canada Goose

Autumn marks the return of a magnificent creature to the James River. The migratory populations of Canada geese that raise their young each summer in the north come back to the James to wait out the winter and feed on aquatic vegetation and cropland. Hearing the calls of a great flock of geese on a moonlit autumn night is cause for awe, but the return of the geese was once noted with extraordinary delight more so than it is today. Why is this?

While the migrations still occur as they once did, Virginians have become familiarized and sometimes frustrated with the cousins of the migratory birds whose recent ancestors decided to forego the migration and stick around in the South year-round. We no longer say goodbye to the Canada goose in the spring, but expect to find them in numbers in our neighborhoods, parks, and golf courses throughout the warm-weather months. Why has this change occurred?

Humans have been up to three very important activities in the last century as far as the Canada goose is concerned. First and most importantly, we have been damming water sources in thousands of farm ponds, golf-course ponds, subdivision lakes, and large reservoirs. To the goose, such artificial impoundments represent a safe haven once found only in the glaciated landscape of the north, where natural lakes are abundant. Second, we have continued reducing numbers and range of natural predators of the goose first through hunting and now through habitat destruction. Third, through suburban sprawl and agriculture, we have created open, grassy spaces which provide the goose further protection from predator ambush and also serve as a key grazing ground for hungry young families of geese. Where open grassy spaces coincide with water sources, such as at a golf course, geese find themselves very much in heaven. We have created the perfect replica of the summertime tundra that once required a very long flight to obtain. The result has been the explosion of a population of “resident” Canada geese.

Rarer forms of wildlife tend to capture our attention and imagination, as the Canada goose once did. It’s unfortunate that for many of us along the James River, the goose has become a bit of a nuisance where it is over-populated in suburban areas. This fall, when you see a flock of geese, remember that it could be coming to the end of a long journey southward to rest on the waters of the James, and pretend that you haven’t heard their call for half the year. That might help you see them in a new light.