Canada Geese

Maryland's goose hunting season opens Nov. 22 in a test of man's ability to predict nature's fickle course and to effectively husband this magnificent natural resource.The Canada goose season is longer and has a higher bag limit than state wildlife managers believe is advisable, following eight below-average reproduction seasons in Quebec's nesting grounds and the lowest head count in 30 years. In recent seasons, 95 percent of the kill have been adult geese needed for breeding and population recovery.

Birders are always on the lookout for unfamiliar avian visitors, and this past weekend was no exception. The weather was great for two-legged and winged creatures alike to be out and about. And though no excuse was needed, really, the Great Backyard Bird Count  has been under way. Veteran birder Kurt Schwarz spied some "neat ducks" that he says don't usually show up in Howard County. The pair of  Redheads and a Greater Scaup pictured here that he photographed were in among some Canada geese on a pond by Clarksville Middle School - proof you don't have to go to a wildlife refuge to spot some interesting wildlife.

The hunting season for Canada geese in Maryland opens tomorrow, and while guides and hunters will have their blinds and gear ready, there probably are more questions about this 35-day season than any before -- and perhaps fewer early answers as well.In past years, an aerial survey in early November would have provided the Department of Natural Resources with an idea of the size of the fall flight south from northern Quebec, and the word would be out -- good or bad.This year, because of informational, economic and scientific considerations, the DNR chose not to make the November survey, and the size and makeup of Maryland's winter population of migratory Canada geese remains a question.

This winter, Canada geese are eating the grass down to the bare ground on my waterfront. There's 15 feet of nothing but brown along the edge of the river. It looks terrible. How can I get rid of them? This is more than unsightly — it is Chesapeake Bay erosion and pollution in the making. (One goose produces a pound of droppings a day, and they can live 15-25 years.) Fortunately, the best times to address the problem are late winter before nesting begins or as soon as they appear.

The hunting season for migratory Canada geese again will be closed in Maryland and the Atlantic Flyway this fall, but according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a reopening of the season is a possibility in 1999.The season was closed by the USFWS and the state in 1995 to allow the breeding population to recover from over-hunting and several successive years of poor breeding conditions in northeastern Canada."I think we have done the right things, and the population is showing signs of recovery," said Jerry Serie, Atlantic Flyway representative for USFWS.

ANNAPOLIS -- The proposed 1992-93 waterfowl hunting dates and bag limits announced by the state yesterday would -- for the first time -- extend the one-bird limit 20 days into the 60-day Canada goose season.The change is necessary because the Atlantic Flyway Council and the federal government have agreed to a 60 percent reduction in the annual harvest rate of Canada geese in the Atlantic Flyway, said Josh Sandt, director of the Wildlife Division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Larry Hindman, waterfowl program director for Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, was talking statistics, reviewing the numbers gathered during the Midwinter Waterfowl Survey completed Jan. 16.And while the total numbers of waterfowl counted in the survey were comparable to last year, there were categories that were especially significant -- either because they noted improvement or, at first glance, seemed to show decline."

For a month and a half, hunters have been watching flights of Canada geese coming into Maryland, and with the opening of the hunting season for these waterfowl still two weeks away, there may be a stirring in the minds of some that perhaps the population of Canadas is strongly on the rebound.Larry Hindman, waterfowl management supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources' Forest, Park and Wildlife Service, said Monday that probably is not the case. Rather, Hindman said, unseasonably cold temperatures to the north probably have forced the Canadas south early.

During the Department of Natural Resource's last annual waterfowl survey, it was noted that more than 16,000 Canada geese were observed on Maryland's western shore.A substantial number of these birds resided in Harford County, but the geese are not the same ones that annually migrate from the Canadian provinces.How many kinds of geese are there? Most hunters believe there are only two -- the Canada and snow goose, but in reality, there are at least 11 different subspecies of the Canada goose alone, ranging in size from the mid-sized 3-pound cackling goose to giant Canada geese that tip the scales at more than 12 pounds.

Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it would continue the moratorium on Canada goose hunting this year throughout the Atlantic Flyway, while the Mississippi and Central flyway states can select up to 70-day seasons.The reason the Atlantic Flyway is closed for Canada geese is that the migrant population in the east is dangerously low, and a ban on hunting is considered the best way to assist in repopulation.And if tight restrictions on hunting are any indication of what might lie ahead for Maryland and the other 12 Atlantic Flyway states, then perhaps the recent past in the Mississippi Flyway offers a glimpse of our future.

It's that time of year when the Canada geese are on the move. The early October nip in the air seemed to have rousted the big birds into the air and put them into their V-formations for another season. When it comes down to it, I rather like the visiting Canada geese. They leave northern Canadian places like the Ungava Peninsula (which I include only because Ungava is fun to say; similarly, the genus name for toads is fun to say, Bufo; certainly there are others, but I digress)

It's the feel-good story of the year. Airliner loses power over New York City and crash-lands in the icy waters of the Hudson River. All 155 passengers and crew survive. The pilot - Chesley Burnett Sullenberger III, who fortunately is called "Sully" or we'd be here all day saying his name - is hailed as a hero. New York's governor dubs it the "Miracle on the Hudson." Yep, it's a great story. Wonderfully inspirational. Except when nervous fliers like me heard the details of why the engines failed, our first reaction was: birds?

DEAL ISLAND -- A team of federal trappers that killed 10,000 nutria in the sprawling Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge has a new mission: Ridding the rest of the Eastern Shore of the invasive herbivore. The South American rodents destroyed 8,000 acres of delicate marshland in the 24,000-acre Blackwater refuge before government hunters wiped them out. Then nutria were targeted in the Fishing Bay Wildlife Management Area and other publicly owned tracts in Dorchester County. Now the trappers are moving south, stalking smaller pockets of nutria on both public and private land here in this remote corner of Somerset County and other parts of Lower Eastern Shore.

Maryland: Inauguration O'Malley plans series of events Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley plans a week of inaugural events, including a parade and a performance by Kool and the Gang, according to a schedule his transition team released yesterday. Before being sworn in Jan. 17, O'Malley plans a seven-day tour of the state, including stops in suburban Washington, Southern Maryland, Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. He plans to attend prayer breakfasts, hold town hall meetings and eat lunch with Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer at Chick and Ruth's Deli.

Speakout! THE ISSUE: --Long a nusiance in the area, Canada geese are dropping a pound a day each of excrement on paths and docks at Lake Elkhorn and other locations around the county. Should government officials step in and take action, perhaps rounding up the nonmigratory birds and using the meat to feed the homeless? There has been no such idea proposed formally for Howard, but similar approaches have been used in communities in other parts of the country. Offer the droppings as garden fertilizer I think most people love seeing the birds; it adds some life to their enjoyment of Columbia's lakes.

Federal prosecutors have accused a Chesapeake Bay charter captain and Eastern Shore entrepreneur who already has three fishing-law violations on his record with bagging too many Canada geese. According to court papers filed Friday, Levin F. Harrison III, also known as Capt'n Buddy, of Tilghman Island, was charged with the unlawful taking of Canada geese Jan. 12 on or over a baited area, and in excess of the daily limit. The maximum penalty is six months in prison and a $15,000 fine. He and his business are set for an initial appearance on Jan. 5 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

Maryland's midwinter count of waterfowl showed substantial increases over last year in numbers of several duck species and the migrant population of Canada geese, which registered the highest numbers since 1995."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the continental population of Canada geese is up 14 percent from last year, and the segment of that population that uses the Atlantic Flyway is up 7 percent.One might assume those are encouraging signs for Maryland hunters, whose seasons and bag limits have been declining since the late 1980s.But the situation is not quite what it might seem.William F. Harvey, of the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, said last week that while the adult population is up a little, the number of juveniles flying south this fall will be disappointing.

This time of year, Jay Bradshaw wakes up before dawn, jumps into his camouflage pants and shirt, and heads out into the great outdoors with his black Labrador, Bear, before most people have reached for the first cup of coffee. He's not going hunting for fun, though. He's going to work. Bradshaw, 37, is one of 155 licensed hunting outfitters in Maryland, a group whose number has grown 80 percent since the state lifted its ban on hunting Canada geese in 2001. Outfitters are the linchpin of the commercial hunting industry.

Critter counts. We've been doing them since Howdy Doody was a 2-by-4, from swans a-swimming and geese a-laying to Dr. Seuss' red fish and blue fish. This year is no different. Hearty bands of volunteers will be tromping around this season, sizing up the populations of bird species and taking stock of the traditional spawning grounds of yellow perch. Both groups could use a couple more boots (and waders) on the ground. Tuesday starts the 105th annual "Christmas Bird Count" sponsored by the National Audubon Society and billed as the nation's oldest and largest citizen-run science project.