Geese Crossing

Something about this makes me think of the Partridge Family Theme Song

  As I was taking my usual walk around the lake at Falls Township Park, I came across a flock of geese crossing the path ahead of me.  Not really unusual, but this time, I had my camera and was able to get some pictures.  Sometimes they can stop traffic when they decide to cross a busy road, but here they are only a temporary distraction to the joggers and bike riders who like to use the path here.  Wherever there is a park like this, with a river or lake, there always seem to be plenty of Canada Geese hanging around.

  I did a quick Wikipedia check on Canada Geese.  As their name indicates, they are native mostly to Canada and the Northern United States.  In the northernmost parts of Canada, and the southernmost parts of the United States, they are migratory.  They will fly south for the winter months, and return when the weather gets warmer in Canada.  In southern Canada and the northern United States, they are stationary.  That is why in my area there are flocks of geese that stay around and flocks that can be seen above, making their way to warmer destinations.

  Presumably, most geese can be seen in parks like this one because it is their natural habitat.  And I assume that, like the deer, heavy land development flushed them out of most wooded and rural areas they once dwelled in, and forced them to concentrate in the parks.  Some parks around me hold deer counts and when it is determined that they are overpopulated with deer, a one-day hunt is scheduled.   I don’t think anything similar exists with geese, although it seems that parks are dealing with an overabundance of them as well.  I don’t think that geese are as valued by hunters as deer.  Whatever the reason, the geese are out in the open much more than deer, as this photo shows.