https://www.audubon.org/magazine/winter-2020/reimagining-canada-goose
The first Canada Goose I saw was on March 6, 2021. My excitement was through the roof knowing it meant that when one goose appears, many are soon to follow along with other migratory birds. When the lake and ponds are frozen it also means that waterfowl will congregate along the open river where they are easier to see and I can delight in every sighting.
Spring migration in the north is a great time to be a birder, especially when you are close to the only river that drains out of Lesser Slave Lake, surrounded by Boreal Forest with lots of muskeg and small ponds/lakes within a 5-50 km radius of our location. Getting outside and exploring will be the norm, a definite boost during this pandemic. Physical distance birding is possible and sharing the excitement with like-minded birders is a great way to make much-needed connections with others.
Birding is also a way to keep learning no matter how common the bird may be in our region. Writing about the sightings I am driven to find something interesting to write about. The bird itself is usually more than enough with so much to say about their life from their mating behaviours, to foraging, to their range, to how they are faring with climate change and loss of habitat. Each bird, like humans, have complicated, fascinating lives.
I ended up on Audubon’s website, reading about Canada Geese and all the amazing things that we know about them. I clicked on the “Learn More” tab and it took me down to other articles, one called “Illustrated Aviary, Re-imagining the Canada Goose” with a beautiful illustration. “For every issue of Audubon magazine, we ask a new artist to reinterpret one of Audubon's original watercolors using their own unique style.” https://www.audubon.org/illustrated-aviary
Luke Swinson, “a member of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, part of the Anishinaabe First Nation” has re-imagined the Canada Goose “(Canada Goose is nika in Anishinaabe.)” His art is so very beautiful and evokes the Canada Goose in a way that I was drawn to - they may be everywhere in Canada but up in the north they are only here when they migrate. They deserve reverence like all living things, their beauty to be admired, their lives to be respected and for us, as humans, to have that moment of “ah-ha”, we are just one species on this planet and we need to understand that we are a part of, not separate from, life on earth. Canada Geese are not pests, they are adapting to the limited natural habitat that we have encroached upon and eliminated in many places.
Thank you Luke. Your re-imagining of the Canada Goose was a delightful and insightful discovery this morning.
Below are a few pictures of the Canada Geese that I have seen so far.
