| ||
|
The steady drip, drip of information continues to trickle in regarding water bird deaths due to starvation this winter. As frozen watercourses finally begin to thaw, bodies are now washing up on shorelines.
.
Canada geese have been hit particularly hard, but one suspects that is partly due to their bodies being easier to spot than smaller and more elusive ducks and coots. One can only guess at actual body counts of wildlife that perished this winter, but for sure, as numbers are only now being reported from specific areas, they have to be substantially high. Two thirds of the country was actually impacted by this unusually brutal winter.
.
.
One wonders in light of high waterfowl mortality this winter, if USDA Wildlife Services will again descend upon NYC this summer to round up and send to slaughter, hundreds of our resident Canada geese who still call NYC home?
.
I am not sure if USDA WS actually keeps track of falling goose numbers as they seem to continually quote figures from as much as ten years ago. -- Before more than 5,000 geese were captured and killed by WS over the last five years.
.
It's a funny thing about government and even private contracts. Once singed and put into motion, they don't appear to be amendable by changing circumstances.
.
Central Park for example, has a contract with Geese Police for year-round goose harassment and egg destruction (with exception of molting period in the summer). This despite the fact that the number of resident geese in 843 acre Central Park has dropped precipitously over the past five years -- from hundreds to less than 40 over the past two years.
.
I don't know how much money is being spent for the daily goose harassment program, but it's truly ludicrous to note Geese Police sending out dogs or shooting off noise makers to "scare off" two geese on a large lake or even worse, harass migratory geese who merely stop in Central Park to briefly rest during long and arduous migrations.
.
Fortunately, since Geese Police has no access to the Central Park Reservoir, it is the one area in all of Central Park where the birds (not just geese, but other water birds) are not continually harassed. Presumably, this explains why so many water birds flock to the Reservoir even in fair weather. It's the only area in the park where they have some measure of peace. (No fishermen, dogs, human activity or harassment.) There are however, red- tailed hawks who fly around the area and occasionally take out a duck, so the birds do have to be on constant vigilance.
.
This morning at the Reservoir for example, all the ducks and a few geese suddenly bolted when a red-tail hawk flew low overhead. (Sometimes I think the hawks get a kick out of terrifying the water birds.) I have never personally seen a hawk actually attack or kill a duck, but I have been told by others that they occasionally do. From the reactions of the ducks and even geese, I have to surmise the stories are true.
.
There were not as many migratory geese at the Reservoir this morning as noted over the past two weeks (less than a hundred). But since I went to the park a little later than usual, it's possible many had already flown out earlier to return to Canada.
.
I have not been as fortunate during this migration to see as many of the goose skeins actually flying in or out as during their past travels. I suspect that is because many of the geese are arriving or even departing during the night.
.
Of the flocks actually observed arriving or departing, most have been in the early evening.
.
Another thing that has been different is that the geese observed flying have been in much smaller flocks than noted in the past. It was, for example, common to see skeins as large as 25 or even more flying in the past. This spring however, I have not seen any skeins larger than a dozen or so geese. (Photos of large flocks of flying geese posted in this blog a few days ago were actually from last year.)
.
I wonder if that is an indicator of just how deadly this past winter may have actually been to our beloved geese?
.
I hope USDA Wildlife Services, New York City and Central Park are taking note. However, cumbersome or inconvenient to change contracts, perhaps its past time to do so.
.
History has proven that no matter how "plentiful" a species may appear to be, a variety of circumstances or perfect storms, so to speak can sometimes have unexpected and drastically reducing consequences. This winter may have been one of those perfect storms.
.
I dread the day of going to Central Park and seeing no geese at all. -- Something that unfortunate to say, has already been experienced more than a few times. -- PCA
.
.
.
***********
No comments:
Post a Comment