Every spring a pair of Canadian Geese landed in our little bay in Desolation Sound. They nested in the same small grassy knoll on the point. They would take turns incubated their eggs while they took turns to eat. A few weeks later the goslings hatched and then the pair would take them into the bay. The little ones would obediently follow behind. Normally the hatch was about ten but they were an easy target for predators. I watched closely to see what the survival rate would be, it averaged out to about five. They grew quickly and once they were a larger size you could see they would survive.
Soon they were large enough to start flying and preparing for the annual migration south. We have all seen the large Vs of Geese flying south. I wasn’t sure were they were heading but right on time they returned each spring.
In my old life I traveled all over the U.S. The Company was based in Portland Oregon and we had large factories in Portland and a large factory in Atlanta Georgia. I traveled to Atlanta on a regular basis. One trip I started from Dallas Texas and drove up through Eastern Arkansas known as the Delta Region and is one of the largest rice producers in the US. I came across a large flat area where the rice had been harvested and I saw something that made me pull over and just stare in amazement. As far as you could see the fields were full of Canadian Geese in the stubble and left over rice on the ground. There were 100’s of thousands of them.
I wondered if the pair from Desolation were in there with their little ones. I still don’t know exactly were they go but know now where they stop to chow down for the rest of their trip.