Spring Teases, Arctic Freezes and Hopefully Warm Hearts

Geese returning to Central Park during brief spring tease.

Little girl takes delight in hand feeding geese and mallards.

Geese and ducks finally able to find some exposed soil for grazing.

Mallards pecking through thin snow to seeds underneath.

We were finally able to scrap gloves, scarves, boots and winter coats this weekend for lighter fare as temperatures swelled to balmy fifty degrees plus.

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The temporary spring tease brought families, runners, cyclists and children back to Central Park, as well as several small flocks of Canada geese.

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The geese have been bouncing around between the Boat Lake and Harlem Meer over the past week which appears to be good news for "Loner," the solitary Canada goose who had been hanging with a mated goose pair at the Boat Lake for the past several months.

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I expressed concern for Loner to my friend, Liliana (who daily monitors to the Boat Lake) because in another month, (i.e. breeding season) the mated pair would no longer accept Loner and the gander would likely run the friendless, solitary goose off from potential nesting area and the lake itself.

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But, it seems now that fear may not actually materialize.

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Liliana reported today that as of this morning, only the mated pair of geese were at the Boat Lake.

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It appears that Loner finally joined one of the visiting flocks over the past weekend. -- An action that was necessary to insure his ultimate survival.

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Loner had to realize that the somewhat comfy situation of tagging along with an established pair through the winter (without personal mate and flock) would not last through the coming seasons.  If he was to take action, he had the opportunity this past week and he apparently took it.

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Liliana also reported seeing one goose at the Boat Lake a few days ago with an id band on her right leg. This suggests that "Bandy," the goose who was alone at Harlem Meer for a couple of weeks also joined (or rejoined) one of the flocks (as suspected).

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In essence, it is good news that both "loner" geese of Central Park have seemingly found flocks to once again become part of. As reported previously in this journal, the long range prognosis for "loner" geese without mates or flocks is extremely grim.

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Nevertheless, not all of the wildlife news from city parks this winter is good.

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Last week, a park maintenance worker reported to me finding several dead mallards at Harlem Meer over the winter.  (Bird lovers at Prospect Park in Brooklyn have similarly  reported the losses of at least four mallards over the winter.)

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I told the young man that the deaths were not due to the birds freezing to death, but likely starving to death.

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Throughout most of the winter, the lake at Harlem Meer has been a frozen block of ice with no open water.

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For the past month, the lawns in Central Park (and other parks) have been covered in more than foot of solidly packed snow thereby preventing waterfowl from grazing.

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In essence, the natural food supplies for ducks, geese and other waterfowl have been completely blocked off by either heavy snow or thick ice most of this winter.

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This has resulted in particularly bold and risky behavior -- especially on the part of mallards.

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In all the years of feeding Central Park mallards over the winters, I have never experienced them eating directly from my hand unless physically compromised in some way, such as a crippled leg.

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But, in recent weeks, it has become the norm rather than the exception that mallards search human hands for food.

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Liliana reports the same.

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This suggests that so desperate are the waterfowl for food, many are willing to take risks they would normally never take.

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Geese, being generally a bit more social, confident and human trusting than mallards do not necessarily have to be faced with life threatening circumstance to take food from human hands.   But even the geese have displayed more risk taking behavior and seeming desperation than usual -- even walking up to small children.

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This past weekend, the birds got a bit of reprieve from relentless cold and constantly gathering snow.

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But, Harlem Meer still remains encased in ice and most of the grounds still covered in thin sheets of icy snow. 

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While it was comforting last night to see some mallards finally able to graze on some newly exposed soil and grass for the first time in weeks, that is a scene likely to vanish as qiuickly as it appeared.

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The weather forecast for the rest of the week is a "return to the Polar Vortex" with temperatures plunging to low teens and more snow to come.

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The geese will likely take off again (except for the mated pair at Boat Lake) as will most people stay away from city parks.

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It will mostly be the "diehard" mallards remaining huddled and cringed down on the frozen ice and a few diehard feeders trying to prevent further mortalities this winter.

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I hope if there is anything this journal accomplishes over the years, it is to awaken others to the struggles of wildlife over the seasons and to hopefully inspire others to the desire to lend a helping hand when necessary -- despite signs and rules in urban parks often dictating otherwise.

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That only cold, restricting and unrelenting winters might hopefully give way to and engender warm, generous and eager hearts.  -- PCA

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