These are what I call "city geese". They are here all year round. They are very people compliant. You can easily get within a couple of feet to them. For the most part, their diet is the park's lawn grasses. Will they eat what you give them, sure, but most do not come up to you begging like the ducks do. IMO, Canadian Geese are a herd animal, grazing on any tender growth they can find, and a lawn will do just fine.dratkinson wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:36 pmAlong one of my bike routes through the neighborhood, I've have often noticed a few ducks sitting under a tree at a house (small houses on a cul-de-sac, very small front yard). They've been doing this for many years.RetiredAL wrote: ↑Wed Jun 02, 2021 11:12 pm Geese having a honky-tonk...... There are more geese around the lake I walk at than normal. I suspect with the drought that their grassy feeding areas are turning dry so they are likely congregating at parks like this where they can snack on the green grass lawns. Zoom in and follow the shore as it turns right. There is a hundred yards of geese.
Asked the neighbor, "Why?". They said they think it started several years back when their neighbor (2nd neighbor) was feeding birds cracked corn (from Murdock's), and the ducks wanted in. Eventually squirrels joined in, so 2nd neighbor stopped feeding the birds to get rid of the squirrels, but they (1st neighbor) liked the ducks so moved the patch of cracked corn and ducks to their front yard for all to enjoy. Say they've had ~70 ducks some winters when other grassy areas are snow covered.
Didn't think to ask about troubles with foxes and coyotes.
--Guessing the ducks feed there during the day, then retire to an aerated pond (ice free patches) to sleep over night.
--Foxes only seem to come through the neighborhood after dark.
--Coyotes seem to avoid housing areas, but do frequent the nearby trails and open spaces.
Besides the city Mallard Ducks, there are maybe a dozen of what we commonly call domesticated ducks - all white and much larger than a Mallard. One of these white ducks, if you are sitting at a bench or table, will very gently come up to you and pull on you pants leg to let you know it's there.
This group of geese was all adults. The juveniles and their parents, about 1/2 the number in this photo, were in another area of the park.
During the winter, there are a lot more Coots and Griebes about than during summer. It's hard to think of a Coot as distance flyer, but they must be.