Geese are Flying North
Local geese fly low over the water and treetops. (Pixabay)
Just to let you know, a couple of week ago, two huge “V’s” of Canada Geese flew by overhead. Immediately, I thought, “Ah, the geese are flying north.” So, I thought you’d like to know the geese are on the move. If you live in Canada or the northern U.S., you’ll be pleased to know that these magnificent harbingers of spring are coming your way. I could hardly see the V’s, because the geese flew so high. They were obviously migrating rather than the couple that live around here year-round, which fly low right over the river or slightly above the treetops. Now, I wonder, did they make it? Have you seen any geese arriving? Please comment below to let me know where you live, if the geese have left (if you’re south of me) or arrived (if you’re north).
Waterfowl Flyings. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
I live on a river in Virginia close to the Atlantis Ocean. This means that I’m right in the middle of the Atlantic Flyway of migrating birds. As you can see from the map on the left, you may be on one of the central, mountain or Pacific flyways.
The geese that fly over here end up going to the northeastern U.S., the Atlantic Provinces, and Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba in Canada. I feel honored and privileged to see so many of the waterfowl flying through here. In addition, during the winter, groups of them live on the river.
Not only geese live here during the winter. Many northern waterfowl also spend the cold months here. For example, occasionally we have whistling swans. This year, we had a few buffleheads (those cute little black-and-white diving ducks), just in case you’re wondering where they went when they weren’t with you. They’re gone now.
A “V” of geese flying north, high in the sky. (donwhite84, Pixabay)
We also have one loon that comes every year and lives in the river calling out its mournful song. The only time I’ve seen the loon with others of its kind–and there were only five total–was just before the migration. They must get together in preparation of moving north. If you have a loon during the summer in a nearby body of water, who knows, it might winter with me? If so, know that it’s well appreciated!
How robins used to look when they’d arrive while I lived in Canada. (Fotocitizen, Pixabay)
We’ve already had pods of robins go through–they stop to peck at and kick about in our leaves, both males and females–and then they’re gone leaving only the few that live the summer here. Interestingly, flickers seems to migrate with the robins.
In addition, the red-winged blackbirds are long gone. They are some of the first to fly through. I only get to hear their wonderful shrill cries during the migration. Otherwise, they don’t live here, or anyway, the ones that live here, don’t live close to my home. Usually, I only see and
Male red-winged blackbird, Walter Siegmund photographer (Wikipedia Creative Commons)
hear them in the spring when they’re passing through. The sound of their shrill cries brings back fond memories of them hanging on to the tops of fuzzy bullrushes/cattails in the swamps around Port Colborne, Ontario, close to my childhood home in Canada.
Every time I see birds migrating north through here, I think of you who live in the north, and feel grateful to see that they’re headed your way. I remember how, when I still lived in Canada, I yearned to see the first robin, because it meant that spring had to be coming soon. Then, when the geese started flying overhead, I knew that warm weather would soon arrive.
Yellow daffodils (Pixabay)
Well, here in the South, spring has sprung already . Daffodils are blooming. Just wanted to let you know, spring is on its way to you.
I invite you to write in the comments section: Where are you? Are the daffodils blooming? If you’re south of me, are your azaleas blooming? Have the geese left where you live? Or, are the geese flying north overhead? Are they arriving? Or, are you still waiting?
