Conference 7.286::digital

    Funny thing about ducks....the owners of the pond aren't necessarily
    the ones who  put the ducks out!  At the university of new mexico
    there is a nice pond in the middle of the campus.  Folks around
    town would buy ducks for their kids as pets, and then get tired
    of caring for them. So they'd drop them off at the (now known as)
    duck pond.  Occasionally a dog stops by and carries a duck off,
    and the pond is soon re-stocked by some former duck owner...
    
    I wonder if this is what's happening in MK? 

       Maybe my great dane could have have a little fun out there!  
       It is possible that he could get loose and wander up here?
       It would only be a 6 or 7 mile walk.  Well maybe not.
    

    It's not the ducks that are sh*tting all over the road.  It's the
    geese.  There are about a half dozen ducks (12 if you count the
    new ducklings), on the order of fifty geese, two swans, and at least
    one beaver in that pond.  Of those, the geese are the only ones
    that are really a nuisance.  I hear that roast goose is quite
    delicious...
    				Jeff
    

    There is a pond on the grounds at FXO.  There, around 85 there were
    about 12 adult Can. Geese.  That year they flew south for the winter.
    Last summ er they came back with about another 6 adults.  They had
    babies last summer, and the number swelled to about 45.  They stayed
    here last winter!  I left FXO around this march.
    
    I've bet they've breeded again.  It became a nuisence trying to
    dodge the goose s%&#, but they were nice to watch at lunchtime,
    as there is a grassy slope leading away to sit/lie on.
    
    Bruce

    I forgot to mention that we'd see a red fox near the pond at night,
    {I used towork alot of OT}.
    
    I bet there were a few casualties.

They lay waste acres of land with their concrete jungle, polute the air 
with their exhaust fumes, kill each other, and pick on other species which 
do no real harm.

A.Duck

Note xxx.0                       MKO Bird Report                         1 reply
TOPDOC::SLOANE "Bruce is on the loose"               24 lines  22-JUL-1987 09:50
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    The birds making the mess at MKO are Canadian geese. There are about
    180 of them. There are also some ducks, including mallards, and 
    some mallard-domestic duck crosses. Great blue herons have also
    been seen, among other birds.                        
    
    The Canadian geese are a nuisance, as has been pointed out. When
    you walk around the pond, you have to goose-step between the large 
    droppings, which also smell in hot weather. Canadian geese are big 
    birds, and 180 of them leave lots of mess.
    
    A few weeks ago a pair of mute swans appeared. Mute swans are larger,
    almost 5 feet tall, than the more common whistling swan, and they
    are supposed to be quite aggressive and territorial. For a few days
    the swans chased the geese, hissing and pecking at them. Action
    has calmed down lately, with an uneasy truce. (Interestingly enough,
    the swans seemed to ignore the mallards, and only attacked the 
    geese.)
    
    Rumor has it that the swans were put there by Digital to get rid
    of the geese. If so, they aren't doing their job. At least they
    stay in the water most of the time, and don't mess up the walkways,
    and they are magnificient birds to look at.
    
    -bs
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Note xxx.1                       MKO Bird Report                          1 of 1
VIDEO::FINGERHUT                                      3 lines  22-JUL-1987 10:43
                         -< What's a Canadian Goose? >-
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    Do you mean Canada Geese?
    Or are these really maintaining their Canadian residency?
    

    Canada Geese they are, not Canadian.
    
    I'm not sure, but I seem to remember reading that they're protected
    by law.  Can anyone confirm this?
    
    -  David

    Re .8:
    
    I don't think they are protected by law against swans. :-)
    
    Actually, about 10 years ago, a couple of Canada Geese were thinking of
    taking up residence in the artificial pond in front of PKO3.  It
    was a mated pair, and goose and gander were poking around the bushes,
    presumably looking for a good spot to build a nest.
    
    One night, someone placed a float looking all the world like a shark's
    dorsal fin in the middle of the lake (which we called "the moat"
    in those days).  Within a couple of days, the nervous geese departed,
    never to be seen again.
    
    Steve Kallis, J r.

    No problem at the Mill!  All we have are those quick little birds
    that zip down and fly at about 100 mph, about 2 inches from the
    water catching bugs.  Sometimes there seems to be hundreds of these
    little guys.
    
    I don't think that a bird (or anything) would actually land in that
    water though.
    
    bs
    
    ps -- Does anyone know what kinds of birds they are?

Canada Geese are not protected - at least not the last time I hunted
waterfowl (3 years ago).

    .6   Thank you! I agree.
    
    Supposedly, the geese and the swans are natural enemies,
    and *next* year, they won't allow a new flock to take up
    residence.  This year, they'll just co-exist.
    
    Is the mute swan any friendlier to us supposedly good-for-something 
    humans than other swans? They can be real nasty.  Might even
    chase us all off...
           
    
    
    
    

    re .10  probably some type of Swallows. Pointy wings, right ?

re: .10
Migrating ducks, and sometimes geese, do stop for the night on the Mill 
pond on their way north and south.

- tom]

    If the only time you see these "quick little birds" is around dusk,
    you may be seeing bats.  They are very quick, seem to never land
    and love bugs.
        ^^^^
    
    Jodi
    
    

    Re: Canada Goose vs. Canadian Goose
    
    Even _Newsweek_ made the same mistake, this week
    in an article about garbage in the oceans
    (they didn't mention the Mill pond ;-).

    re .10:
    
    See SERPNT::NOTES$ARCHIVE:CTNOTESV3 note # 12.
    
    - M    

    Minneapolis had a similar problem with the goose population at a
    popular city park.  Last I heard, they've taken to capturing a large
    percentage of the flock and shipping them to another state that
    wanted them.

    A group of us likes to feed the ducks and swans at lunchtime. I was
    very surprised at how unafraid the male swan turned out to be. Last
    time we fed him, he walked right up next to me. Actually, it can
    be a bit scary, 'cuz this birds BIG. His mate tends to hiss, but
    she does no harm. The ducks are really sharp and get along with
    the swan couple. But - the geese are dumb - I must say we agree
    with the swans and ducks on this one! Any one have any good recipes
    for roast stuffed wild goose?
    

Swans can be dangerous.  Some person needed hospital treatment after being
attacked by a swan a weks or two ago here in England.

I have no answer to the problem with the mess.  The same problem happens in
England where there are ponds attarctive to birds - my brother used to live
with one yards from his house.

jb

    There have been some cases of Swans actually capsizing canoes in
    the river near Newmarket New Hampshire. Apparently the male is
    protectingthe nesting female and is VERY territorial!
    
    /tb/
    

    .10:
    Could be swallows, could be swifts -- we'd need a more precise
    description, or photos, to pin it down.
    
    Dick
    

    re .22 [re .10]:
    
    I _think_ they're Killdeer.  They have a distinctive call, from
    which they get their name.  Give a listen...
    
    - John

    The latest attempt (which seems to be working) to control the geese,
    etc. in MK ponds was to put plastic edging about 3 inches wide attached
    to stakes along the edges of the pond nearest to the buildings.
     The sides that are open to the woods were not "taped".  Apparently,
    the birds have a difficult time getting over this obstacle, and
    so stay peacefully in the pond, or get out on the other side by
    the wooded area.
    
    

    "Pave paradise and put up a parking lot"--1960's song, author
    forgotten.
    
    Seems like the attitude still prevails?  I, for one, feel a twinge
    of sorrow everytime I watch another farm/field bite the dust to
    high technology.
    
    

>    "Pave paradise and put up a parking lot"--1960's song, author
>    forgotten.

	That was Joni Mitchell.
	
	Actually, the geese don't seem to mind pavement, according to
	the physical evidence they leave...
	
	Mike (who has often had to "goose-step" his way to the back
	door:-)

Re .25:

Did the pond even exist before high technology entered the scene?  Or was
it created with much bulldozing?

Re .26:

The title may be "Big Yellow Taxi".
				/AHM

Originally the pond was a wetlands which was rearranged with permission
and supervision of the appropriate authorities.  I recall something
about dredging and filling in the permits.

As one who has experienced other developer's attempts, you do not "just
fill" wetlands anymore.

ed

    A year later...but what the heck.....

    Re protected geese/ducks/etc....Yes, they are protected, and if you 
bring your dog around to harrass the geese you are in for some major 
trouble. I and many others will be happy to call the Fish and Game people 
and have them explain the letter of the law to you....and it will be 
expensive to boot....

    If you don't like the geese and their leavings...then DON'T FEED THEM!
They are opportunistic animals that need food and open water year round. 
Given those two items, they will stay at an open water area year round, 
particularly in an area like MKO where no hunter is likely to try to bag 
them.  As far as chasing them away, you can bring it up to the local 
facilities people and let them get ideas from the Fish and Game people to 
encourage the geese to fly south for the winter. They will normally summer 
way up north and stay here only when they have food and water.

    Geese and ducks for the past few years have had a hard enough time 
finding open and useable land/water area to breed, it is a national 
disaster for them because of low precipitation and loss of land to condos 
and intense farming and other man-made disasters. I personally don't object 
to providing a little wetland space to even one pair of geese or ducks.
I would hope that no one would disturb any wild animal on DEC property as 
some folks have suggested (jokingly, I think) in this file earlier...

    Vic H