Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

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Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#1 Postby WeatherGuesser » Tue Jan 17, 2017 5:02 pm

I was hearing them earlier today, but didn't see them until just a little while ago. Classic V formation. But why now? It's mid-January. Most of what I can find says I shouldn't see them for another 3 weeks or so - early-to-mid February.

What do they know that we don't?
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#2 Postby wxman57 » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:27 pm

It would help to know where you are located. However, Canadian geese migrate southward across the U.S. between September & November. Are you seeing geese moving south or north? If they're flying north, then they agree with me that winter is over. ;-)
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#3 Postby WeatherGuesser » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:33 pm

wxman57 wrote:It would help to know where you are located. However, Canadian geese migrate southward across the U.S. between September & November. Are you seeing geese moving south or north? If they're flying north, then they agree with me that winter is over. ;-)


The flock I saw was headed primarily west. Yeah, west, but I've noticed in the past they tend to circle some in this area at both times of year.

I'm on their Mississippi Flyway about 37N
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#4 Postby WeatherGuesser » Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:56 pm

Right after I posted that, I went outside to do a few things. Heard the honking again and looked up to see three large flocks all flying west. A few minutes later, two more large flocks headed the same way. And I mean hundreds of birds. Tried to get a picture, but they only show as spots, like dirt on the lens.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#5 Postby psyclone » Wed Jan 18, 2017 8:19 pm

I grew up in northeast ohio and we had geese that would stay for the winter. many would fly south in the fall but not all.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#6 Postby WeatherGuesser » Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:01 am

wxman57 wrote:then they agree with me that winter is over. ;-)


So, I go out in the yard this morning and what do I see?

Image

Not the best picture, but that's a Robin. What say you WX, Winter Cancel Confirmed?
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#7 Postby Yukon Cornelius » Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:20 pm

The geese are probably just traveling to a new food source. Around these areas they feed on wheat fields quite regularly and will often rotate fields feeding on. There are also resident robins that don't migrate. It's not uncommon to see robins during a warm stretch of winter. I saw quite a few earlier this winter and a week later I had a low of 7. True indicators of winter actually being over are trees putting buds on, specifically pecan and mesquite.
Last edited by Yukon Cornelius on Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#8 Postby tolakram » Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:24 pm

My understanding is that Robins and some populations of Geese are short distant migrators that can move back and forth with the weather.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#9 Postby Yukon Cornelius » Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:31 pm

tolakram wrote:My understanding is that Robins and some populations of Geese are short distant migrators that can move back and forth with the weather.

You're exactly right.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#10 Postby WeatherGuesser » Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:26 pm

Except that I don't recall ever seeing either this early in the year.

There are no resident geese here that I've ever seen in those numbers. I have seen a stray mating pair or two, but never in those quantities.

Not saying it means anything at all, but animals often understand things we never will.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#11 Postby Yukon Cornelius » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:11 pm

WeatherGuesser wrote:Except that I don't recall ever seeing either this early in the year.

There are no resident geese here that I've ever seen in those numbers. I have seen a stray mating pair or two, but never in those quantities.

Not saying it means anything at all, but animals often understand things we never will.

You may just not seen them but I guarantee you they are there. I helped a govt agency do a major Canadian geese study years ago and I will say that the major migratory patterns have definitely changed over the years. I'm not sure where you are located but Texas is a huge migratory location for geese. It's the same thing with the robins. Warmer winters create shorter migratory paths which result in a larger number of individuals going through n shorter migratory flights or not migrating at all. With the weather as back and forth as it's been this season you can't really base any weather predictions on animals. It all becomes lore. On the other hand, trees are a very good indicator.
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Re: Serious Question: Why am I seeing Geese now?

#12 Postby WeatherGuesser » Tue Jan 31, 2017 6:09 pm

OK, so today I saw a gaggle of Geese going the right way ... due North.

Can we stick a fork in Winter now and call it macaroni?
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