Today, we circled the entire lake to count how many geese there actually are. We counted 48, plus or minus 2, since I'm not exactly sure I didn't count a couple of them twice. They are in two groups, one sort of at each end of the big part of the Lake. None in the lullwater or by the Boathouse. And of course, as mentioned previously, none in the Parade Grounds. There are actually more ducks then geese these days. About 40 ducks by the Boathouse, and a similar number in the big lake. Plus, there are the six swans and a blue heron. No sign of cormorants or showy egrets today, but I think they come in from the Gateway area during the daytime to eat, and are in the Park all the time.
The ducks are busily pairing off - numerous couples swimming around the lake, especially the mallards. Well, with the mallards it's a lot easier to tell that they are couples - the males so colorful, the females so brown and speckled. Ah Spring! Lots of other birds, very noisy, chasing each other among the trees, including some red-winged blackbirds, robins, and others. Gosling practicing flight across the lake.
Not so easy to walk around the lake. The whole east end is fenced off for the Lakeside project, with huge dirt mounds inside the fences. We know dog named Puppy, whose owner has a friend who lives on the east side of the Park and is eagerly awaiting the completion of the Lakeside Project. Glad to know some one is, but in the meantime, it's years of ugly, difficult walking conditions. I certainly hope it's worth it, but I am always skeptical of too much stuff being built in the Park. To me, it's always the more nature the better.
More signs of spring: the porta-johns/porta-janes are back, looking fresh and perky. The Snack Bar in the Parade Grounds is open for the season. By the way, the coffee is excellent! Chock-full-of-nuts, always a reliable favorite, and freshly brewed.
Note the interesting little rock monument, and nearby floral offering.
Thanks for the count, Deb. Its extremely critical to have an accurate count of the geese at PP from now until the summer and especially to watch out for any geese who might try to nest there.
ReplyDeleteSome of the geese there now will likely move off when it comes time to molt (unless nesting).
Since none of the present geese molted at PP last year, (as they would now be dead) presumably they have another molting location and will move there sometime in late May.
While I am no fan of "egg oiling" because of the stress or trauma it causes to mated pairs of geese, the fact is, any goslings born at Prospect Park would result in establishment of new families who would then return every year to the birthing location (assuming they would not be rounded up and gassed first by USDA and that is a very big "assumption").
Its a shame the geese have been so vilified by government and people who seem unable to appreciate these birds extraordinaty qualities of loyalty, protection, devotion to mate and offspring and adaptability to man's harassments and predations.
We now have to seek ways to protect the geese from ourselves.
How pathetic, shameful and ironic.
Thanks Deb. I was there trying to do a count as well but did not make it completely around. Wanted to check because the last count that Brooklyn Paper had on their front page seemed incredibly high- 190. I've heard that the park staff has found 15 nests but only one nest has eggs.
ReplyDeleteThere was a much higher gull presence than there were geese. As Patty said, all the gosling born there last year are sadly gone there are no new families. Keep us up to date on your count and I will do the same.
Can't understand why with such a low number, they would come back to gas them. just plain wrong.
Hey Ditmas Deb,
ReplyDeleteI was at the lake yesterday and didn't see as many geese as you did. I also have not seen all the swans. I see 3 that are being chased constantly by the male. I assume that the female is sitting on eggs. Where is the 4th Cygnet? He was not in the area where the others were.
One of the cygnets looked in only fair shape. He allowed dogs and people to get too close and cut off his way back to the lake. He limped and didn't look well.
A park ranger and vehicle sat across the lake from the feeding area (with new signs-no feeding wildlife) with vehicle pointed away from feeding area. The rangers vehicle was pointed away so he could not see the people feeding the geese and swans. The vehicle and one ranger finally pulled away passing the feeding area never stopping to tell people to stop FEEDING the GEESE!!!
The numbers of geese are much smaller than the ducks and gulls. I can't imagine a reason for culling them. Can you imagine a lake this big with no geese? Imagine if the city killed off all the pigeons? How would we like a city without birds?