Jack Miner's birds

[vaneramos]

Approaching the pond this morning I was surprised to find a flock of at least 120 Canada geese. I can understand why people detest them. In typical city parks they are a nuisance. Several weeks ago, driving down Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto, I had to slam on the brakes for a pair wandering casually across the busy lanes.

Eramosa River park is atypical, and the geese do not cause trouble. They rarely come ashore for fear of the woods. After an entire summer of seeing only a single pair on the pond, I was thrilled to come upon a large number muttering in hushed voices, slipping discretely across the stream as I drew near. Here a flock has a spiritual, almost ghostly quality, and their voices sound like a prayer.

I learned to respect Canada geese because of where I grew up, a few miles from Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. He was a leading conservationist during his day (1864-1944). He was the first person to use metal bands to track bird migration patterns. My school took field trips there every autumn. We would hear the unvarying obligatory lecture about Jack, but seeing the feeding was always awesome. Tens of thousands of migrating geese would land on the bare field across the road. A tractor would roll up and down, spreading corn. The birds would fly up in huge noisy waves and then descend again to feed behind the tractor.

In the 1970s we never considered Canada geese becoming a nuisance, and they're still beautiful in my eyes.



Here is Brenna, feeding a goose at Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary when we visited in July. I was sad to see how much the place had declined. Jack willed that admission would be free to all comers in perpetuity. Apparently his dream has suffered through changes in the economy, and perhaps from the waning popularity of the birds that he helped rescue from extinction.

Comments

[leafshimmer.livejournal.com]

What on Earth am I look at in the first image? It looks like either the ruins of a temple foundation on the surface of Mars taken via Voyager, or a closeup of something fascinating on somebody's skin.

I guess this is your Friday riddle for the day? I'm surprised more folks didn't bite... so to speak...

xo Shimmer

[bremo.livejournal.com]

My guess is surface of semi-frozen lake. :)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, its a pond in the river where I walk all the time.