Wandering Nomads

Today marks a kind of "anniversary."

 

But, not a particularly pleasant one.

 

It was one year ago today that I encountered "goose harassment" at Harlem Meer in Central Park.

 

I remember the incident as clearly as yesterday:

 

It was around 6:30 in the evening.

 

I set out to check on Brad, Angelina and Joey, the three domestic, flightless ducks at Harlem Meer during that time.

 

Autumn to that point had been chilly in New York City.   Half of the lake was already frozen.

 

A number of migratory birds had congregated at the Meer.

 

There were groups of Northern Shovelers, lots of mallards and other ducks, one swan ("Hector") and about 30 mostly migratory Canada geese.

 

When arriving to the Meer that night, Joey, Brad and Angelina immediately rushed to me eager for their nightly treats.   A number of mallards joined them.

 

Tossing seeds to the ducks along the grassy embankment, I noticed someone on the far side of the lake alongside a white van.

 

The person appeared to be tossing something heavy on the ice.  It made a loud noise when crashing on the sheets of frozen water.

 

"Hm, that's interesting," I thought naively. "Must be a park ranger breaking up the ice for the birds!"

 

But, my wishful thinking and naivete were soon torpedoed by a hard dose of reality.

 

The geese positioned in the middle of the lake started to honk loudly -- a warning call presumably to each other and the other birds in the water.

 

Startled, Joey, Brad and Angelina, immediately bolted and jumped in the water, swimming as rapidly as possible to the center of the lake.

 

What the hell? I thought.  What's going on?

 

Then, before I could even contemplate an answer to the question, the geese rose up in one large and panicked swoop from the lake.   The other birds quickly followed....shovelers, mallards and whatever other waterfowl had been languishing on the still unfrozen, open water.

 

The birds flew high in the air and seemed to head in disorganized fashion towards the East Side of Manhattan -- or in the direction of Laguardia Airport.

 

Confused and angered, I hurriedly rushed to the east side of the lake to investigate and confront the person terrorizing all of the birds.

 

Passing the white van, I noticed the words, "Geese Relief" on the side of the truck.

 

"What the hell are you doing?"  I furiously inquired of the woman repeatedly tossing the loud noisemaker on the ice.

 

"I am here to chase away the geese." the woman answered dispassionately and matter of factly.

 

"That's INSANE!   You're sending all these birds up in the sky in a panic when you've got planes flying overhead!  That is ASKING for a potential disaster!  We need the geese here to help maintain open water!"

 

Apparently instructed not to get into arguments with protesters, the woman packed up her apparatus and stepped inside the van.   But, rather than leaving the Meer, she drove the van some 100 or so feet away and simply parked near the park drive.

 

I too, moved back to the south side of the lake and watched, hoping the woman in the white van would finally leave.

 

But, she didn't.

 

There were still a straggly few birds on the lake, including Hector, the swan, a handful of geese and of course, Joey, Brad and Angelina who were incapable of flying anywhere.

 

I stayed as long as I could. But, the below freezing temperatures were getting to me and my hands were then frozen despite wearing gloves.

 

It was obvious the woman sitting inside a warm van was not going to leave until presumably every last bird was chased from the lake.

 

Eventually, I had to give up and leave.   There was nothing I could do to protect the few stragglers left on the lake.

 

I felt completely deflated and despaired.

 

The following day, I called the Central Park Conservancy to resister complaint over the incident witnessed the night before.

 

"Oh, they are supposed to use dogs to chase the geese," I was told. "We did not approve the use of any other methods.  We will check into this and get back to you."

 

"But, WHY would geese be chased at all now?" I demanded to know.  " We are going into winter. These are migratory birds!"

 

"I promise to get back to you later....."

 

As promised, later in the day, the same gentleman called back to inform me that Geese Relief had been fired and that all goose harassment was suspended for the winter.  A new company would be hired in the spring.

 

But, the damage had already been done.

 

Later that night, at the Meer, only Joey, Brad and Angelina still remained.  No geese. No shovelers. No ducks.  And even no swan.

 

"Hector," the swan who had been at the Meer since October had fled along with all of the other waterfowl with the exception of the flightless and totally terrorized ducks. 

 

It took a long while for me to find the traumatized BrAdgelina and Joey that night.

 

Even though it is now exactly a year later, Hector, the swan has never been seen since.

 

And even though Joey, Brad and Angelina were never specifically targeted by goose harassment, since last year, Joey was attacked by a dog in January and had to be rescued and Angelina mysteriously vanished this past spring and is presumed dead.

 

As claimed, Central Park Conservancy did suspend goose harassment for the rest of the winter, but it was resumed this past spring with the company, "Goosebusters."

 

As noted in this blog, last spring was the last time any sizable population of geese were observed in Central Park.

 

But, that of course did not last long.

 

Since that time, observances of geese in Central Park have been spotty at best.  And though normally, these are birds who survive best in large groups (as any prey species), it seems the geese have altered their behavior substantially by frequently dispersing and breaking up into smaller gaggles.

 

There were, for example, ten (very shy, nervous and people-wary) geese who molted at Harlem Meer over this past summer. There was the family of five geese at the Reservoir (including three goslings). There was the Turtle Pond family of geese and a few hangers-on who molted at the Boat Lake.  And there was another family of geese (including goslings who hatched) at the South Pond.

 

That was a grand total of approximately 35 geese dispersed in all of Central Park over this past summer.

 

But, since molting and gosling-raising was completed in August, sightings of geese in Central Park over the fall have been very few and far between.

 

Yesterday, I wrote of the dozen or so geese who miraculously appeared at Harlem Meer on Wednesday night.

 

But, even that was different last night.

 

Only Buster and his small troupe of 6 refugees were still at the Meer last night.  The dynamic "diving duo" and other geese seemingly returned to the Meer were gone again.

 

But, will Buster and his rag-tag clan be harassed tonight as one year ago, every goose, shoverler, mallard and even the one swan were at Harlem Meer?

 

I don't know.

 

I just know its a dubious "anniversary."  -- One I personally don't celebrate.

 

The lake water may not yet be frozen at Harlem Meer during what has mostly been a warmer than normal fall in New York City.

 

But, the atmosphere for the "unwelcomed" and constantly maligned geese is as frigid and frozen as the most northern points of the Arctic during the bleakest, harshest days of winter.

 

"Disperse, constantly move and reorganize" seem to be the modus operandi for the forever targeted geese these days.

 

All have become wandering and scattered nomads without home anywhere.  -- PCA

 

 

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