Some More Spring Arrivals, But These Aren't Migrants: The Babies of CSU Stanislaus

The babies are everywhere! I took the occasion to wander the campus of CSU Stanislaus in Turlock this afternoon. The landscape includes some rather large ponds, and an artificial stream that is meant to reflect the vegetation from the Sierra Nevada to the floor of the Great Valley. Reeds have become established in some of the ponds, and as such, the campus has recreated some of the wetland environments that used to exist in valley. The birds have responded, and a number of species are reproducing and raising their young on the campus. And that means for a few weeks of the year, there are adorable young chicks running around everywhere.

First we have the Mallard babies (Anas platyrhynchos). Five of them were huddled just a few inches from the pathway along the artificial stream. Apparently the humans here treat them well because Momma Mallard let me carefully step by without scattering as long as I had my back to them and pretended to be looking at something else.

Then there were the Canada Geese babies (Branta candensis). There are a lot of geese on the campus, and at times they have become a bit of a nuisance. They sometimes get chased off by specially trained dogs, but there were around thirty of them scattered across the campus today. There were two broods of goslings that I ran across, and the parents were on the verge of being aggressive when I walked by, but they kept their distance. The babies of course were cute.

The biggest surprise was one that I didn't recognize right away because it seemed like there were no parents around. I got two clues a short time later, as an American Coot (Fulica Americana) was nearby chasing off some Mallards from the baby. And then there were the feet, visible when it climbed out of the water for a moment. Those giant odd-shaped feet are unmistakeably coot-like.

Canada Goose "Gang Brood" at Turlock Lake State Recreational Area

It was a beautiful spring day, so we headed out for a short excursion up the Tuolumne River. We hunted for birds at Turlock Lake State Recreational Area for a bit, and then headed east on Lake Road towards the Joe Domecq Wilderness (a county wilderness park developed on an old dredge field). On the way between the parks, we passed an overflow pond for Turlock Lake Reservoir and I saw lots of Canada Geese and a few goslings. We stopped for a few moments to have a look, and soon I saw a caravan of twenty goslings between two adults. I've never seen such a large group of young ones, but apparently the geese like to form "gang broods" of up to five individual families. It's sort of an avian kindergarten, I guess. Whatever it is, it was the cutest thing in my day! 

Canada Geese at the West Campus Pond

With the cessation of the seemingly endless rains of the last month (okay, for us Californians it felt that way), the drainage pond on our west campus is filled to the brim, and the local ducks and geese have taken note. I've seen a dozen or Mallards lurking in the brush, and this evening there were four Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). There was nothing overly remarkable about seeing geese in the pond, but I really liked the way they grouped themselves to pose for tonight's photograph.

Canada Goose Family in Tuolumne River Water (but not in the Tuolumne River)

It's a bit of an odd title, but I'll explain. This sweet little family of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) was feeding in the grass along a canal that feeds water from Don Pedro Reservoir into Turlock Lake Reservoir. They jumped into the fast flowing water as I walked over the bridge. So the water the geese were cavorting in was Tuolumne River water, but it wasn't the Tuolumne River. It was probably first diverted at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park and sent through penstocks to produce electricity before stored once again in Don Pedro Reservoir. The water was then sent through the canal into Turlock Lake Reservoir before being divvied out to the irrigated fields of the Great Valley. Such is the complicated way we utilize our precious rivers.

Um...aren't Canada Geese supposed to be breeding far to the north in Canada? It seems there are more and more who like Central California during the summer and hang around rather than make the hazardous migration north. At times they become somewhat of a pest in parks and lawns. But those goslings sure are cute!

I'm King of the World...er, Pond! Canada Goose at CSU Stanislaus

So here's a familiar bird. It's so familiar and widespread around these parts that I hadn't thought to post pictures of it on this blog yet. It's a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). I thought of it today because I was meditating and considering deep philosophical issues (ahem, daydreaming) in my office when I noticed a large bird on top of the adjacent building, sitting where a hawk might normally perch.

I tend to think of these birds as denizens of lawns and ponds, not majestic perches above the landscape. Then again, Canada Geese are more likely than others to think outside the box. They used to pretty much exclusively migrate north for the summer (and many still do), but some find urban areas much to their liking, due to a year-round supply of food and water. Their populations have grown to the extent that in many locales they are considered pests, both because of fouling the grass with their droppings, but also because they can be aggressive and pack a mean bite.

On the CSU campus where I teach a part-time course they caused enough of a problem that the management has brought in specially trained dogs to harass and haze the birds so they'll go elsewhere. I suppose it is working to some extent because I don't generally see more than half a dozen at a time. But it's interesting how they've learned to perch on their "cliffs" beyond the reach of any dogs...