by Betsy Seeton
After talking to the goose, who stayed close by me, I turned to examine the brown bird in the distance and then something startling happened. It looked right at me and started swimming toward me. I snapped a series of pictures as it made a bee line for me and soon realized it looked like my favorite brown goose from last winter. I've seen her once this year and when I did she immediately got out of the water and came to me. It’s hard to believe she remembered me, but it was amazing to see her come to me when I talked to her. I was with a photographer friend when that happened and he witnessed it. I was as surprised as he was. Maybe she knew my voice. Or maybe it was just coincidental. I still really don't know. Today, she swam half way across the lake and came right to me -- again. It was surreal!
I wonder if she heard the camera clicking (I clicked a lot of pictures last year) and perhaps heard my voice when I spoke to the other goose? Could it be possible that she recognized these sounds and remembered the many times I sat with her and took her picture? Birds are remarkable in many ways and certainly being able to remember how to fly thousands of miles back to the same nesting area is at the top of the marveling I do about them.
Anyway, my brown goose came to shore a few feet from me and just started grooming her feathers and feet and then curled up for some shut eye. She never moved away from me. I sat with her for half an hour. Maybe it's all a coincidence ... I don't know. But it was amazing nonetheless. It was definitely a wow moment and made my day.
Recently the population of Double-crested Cormorants has increased. Some studies have concluded that the recovery was allowed by the decrease of contaminants, particularly the discontinued use of DDT[7]. The population may have also increased because of aquaculture ponds in its southern wintering grounds. The ponds favor good over-winter survival and growth." Source: Wikipedia
were stalked by hunters for their long, soft breeding feathers to satisfy a nineteenth century
fashion trend. In the 1890’s, outraged by the resultant destruction of the egret hunts, a
group of Boston society women began gathering over tea to discuss what steps should be
taken to save the birds and their habitat. From these talks the modern Audubon Society was
born." Source: http://www.farallones.org/e_newsletter/2006-05/egrets.htm
Environmentalists firmly believe that the coyotes are necessary to preserve the balance of nature. Some sportsmen feel the coyote is responsible for the declines in game species. Biologists agree that individual animals preying on livestock and poultry should be destroyed but that the species as a whole is not necessarily harmful, because much of its diet is made up of destructive rodents. Biologists also agree that coyote populations have no lasting effects on other wildlife populations. So the controversy rages on.
Coyotes have recently been classified as non-game animals in California and may be killed throughout the year under the authority of a hunting license." Source: http://www.trailsafe.org/coyotefacts.htm READ MORE AT: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/maps/brochures/coyotes.pdf