News: Waterbirds & Waterfowl

[The Peregrine Chick]

Nice flamingo story ... shows how it can be a delicate dance with some species ...

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/65932/frigid-flamingos-are-in-the-pink-after-adopting-five-hand-reared

here's a bit more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-22400310

 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Cool research on animal symbiosis of the unlikely kind ...

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Beavers+help+nesting+geese+researchers+find/7961447/story.html

[Kinderchick]

All very interesting, jadoo and very sound advice from TPC... I didn't know that a goose had died while sitting on her nest last year. Do they know why this happened? And what happened with her eggs?

Okay, never mind about the last part of my post, concerning the goose and her eggs, jadoo. I just went back and re-read this thread where you have already posted about Mama Goose and her eggs. Sometimes hard to remember all the info and to keep it all straight.

[birdcamfan]

This is really great information to know. I wasn't aware of a lot of these rules. Thank you for keeping us out of jail!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Jadoo - you might want to suggest to your Building Services people that they contact Conservation now and ask if they can get permission to contact one of the wildlife rehab organizations if they can't get hold of a Manitoba Conservation (say on a weekend or in the case of an emergency) once the ducklings/goslings hatch and it looks like Mom is trying to get them off the roof.  Rehab organizations have some additional permit responsibilities and rights that might apply in this kind of situation.  I don't know if it will work, but it might be an option so long as: a) your Building Services folks don't disturb the birds until the Mom is trying to get them off (that's a violation of the federal legislation) and b) given that your building actually doesn't have anyway for the birds to get off.

It is not unusual for geese to nest high, higher than we think we would think safe - and they manage to get their kids safely to ground.  But sometimes that's just not the case.

Exclusion is always the best way to prevent occupation but your patios are too large to be able to exclude them.  Next option is to reduce the site's appeal.An option for next year is to see if an hourly run around your rooftop patios is a possibility by your Security Staff.  The geese are attracted to the fact that it seems safe from predators.  Security Staff would be seen as a predator so a slow walk around the patios hourly at the time that the geese are nesting - so April and May - could be enough to negate the appeal of the site.  Keep in mind that geese though ferocious at times are not like the peregrines - they aren't tied to nestsites or defending territories like the peregrines, they pretty much start fresh each year looking for a safe site though they may return to the previous year's site as a starting point.  And you avoid the potential for being found in violation of federal legislation entirely.

Just a suggestion ...  

[jadoo]

Glad to hear there there is a rescue plan in place, on the off chance that the eggs do hatch, jadoo. Is Mama Goose stilll incubating? Also, what exactly did happen last year? How exactly were migratory waterfowl interfered with, to the extent that fines could have been issued? You may have mentioned this before, but I don't recall.

...well, last year, the mama goose died, sitting on the nest...building services got special permission from conservation to remove the remains, but not to do anything about the nest.  now, that part had nothing to do with the fine potential - on the other side of the building, on a different roof, a duck had built her nest, and sometime after the goose died, the 8 ducklings hatched.  Mama duck led them off of the roof. but instead of ending up on the ground 3 stories below, they ended up on one of our 3rd floor patios (walls on all 4 sides, but no roof.  the walls were WAY too high for the ducklings to get out, so conservation was called again, but it was in the middle of the weekend, and building services couldn't get hold of anyone there.  so the decision was made (I don't know who made it) to rescue the ducklings off of the patio and get them down to ground level, which was successfully accomplished  (i'm tired - were those last words redundant?)   Anyway, that constitutes interfering with migratory waterfowl, so they could have been fined up to $5000 per duckling (hence the $40,000 figure), but they weren't, so now they are especially careful.

[Kinderchick]

...they have been in contact with conservation (they were told last year, after the duckling rescue - that they could have been fined up to $30,000 for that incident - $5,000 per duckling - for interfereing with migratory waterfowl) and they have been keeping a close eye on the situation.  If, by some strange happenstance, any eggs do hatch, they will contact conservation about what, if anything, to do in that situation...so, yes - there is a plan...

Glad to hear there there is a rescue plan in place, on the off chance that the eggs do hatch, jadoo. Is Mama Goose stilll incubating? Also, what exactly did happen last year? How exactly were migratory waterfowl interfered with, to the extent that fines could have been issued? You may have mentioned this before, but I don't recall.

[jadoo]

...and, as I predicted, I got a very friendly phone call from the supervisor of the building services, who is pretty surprised by how many people are interested in this...anyway, the eggs should have hatched (by their estimation) about 10 days ago, so they are thinking that none of these eggs are viable, but they are going to keep watch just in case  - they believe this is a young (1st time) pair, and this same goose had a nest on the other side of the building, which she abandoned earlier this year...they have been in contact with conservation (they were told last year, after the duckling rescue - that they could have been fined up to $30,000 for that incident - $5,000 per duckling - for interfereing with migratory waterfowl) and they have been keeping a close eye on the situation.  If, by some strange happenstance, any eggs do hatch, they will contact conservation about what, if anything, to do in that situation...so, yes - there is a plan...

[jadoo]

Wow! That could be rather problematic when the goslings hatch, jadoo. Is anyone concerned about this? How will the parents get their goslings off the roof when they hatch? Is there a rescue plan?

...no idea - so, despite the ever-present danger (not really) of being slapped down for asking questions that are none of my business, I have emailed building services to ask them if there is a plan...(really, just kidding about the slap down - everybody at hydro is always very friendly...)

[Kinderchick]

Wow! That could be rather problematic when the goslings hatch, jadoo. Is anyone concerned about this? How will the parents get their goslings off the roof when they hatch? Is there a rescue plan?

[jadoo]

...hey Kinderchick, just to let you know, I've been watching the goose on our 3rd floor green roof - she is still on her nest, male still keeping a close eye out for any danger...today, there are some window cleaners using the ledge nearest the nest as their staging area...the goose moved off the eggs when they first showed up, but resumed her place soon after, when the male came in closer (I guess she felt like her backup was right there)...the window cleaners just finished re-setting themselves, and although she appeared startled off the nest for a minute or two, it looks like the geese have decided these particular humans are no threat, so she is back on the eggs again...(BTW, the blinking solar lights they set up to discourage them from nesting in the area?  The goose made her nest right beside one of them...)  (THAT sure worked...)   

[jadoo]

So are you saying that you had a nesting goose last year as well as a mother duck and ducklings, up there on the Hydro  garden roofs, jadoo? I didn't remember that. Maybe I'm the one who got mixed up. I thought I remembered there was a nesting goose but didn't remember the ducks. Boy, that really could become a problem. Or Hydro may need to think about building ponds up there.

...i knew about the goose when she was just settling onto her brand new nest and eggs; i came back after the weekend to find out she was dead, still on the nest.  i don't know why she died, and i don't think anybody does, the body was removed a couple of days later;  the eggs never hatched, of course...but i didn't know about the duck until i read about the rescue in our company newsletter - she was nesting on one of the green roofs on the other side of the building from me...

[allikat]

Not sure if this has been done or thought of yet...all it takes is one individual to take action and make his or her voice heard, then the word is spread for people to be on alert and perhaps aid in a potentially dangerous situation for a nesting duck or goose. 

[Kinderchick]

So are you saying that you had a nesting goose last year as well as a mother duck and ducklings, up there on the Hydro  garden roofs, jadoo? I didn't remember that. Maybe I'm the one who got mixed up. I thought I remembered there was a nesting goose but didn't remember the ducks. Boy, that really could become a problem. Or Hydro may need to think about building ponds up there.

[jadoo]

...looking out my window this morning in the dark, checking out the lights on the green roof - I can't see these things giving any geese pause, considering how many other lights are around here - they aren't very bright at all, however, perhaps much more clever minds than mine are at work here...in todays Free Press, they mention the lights, and also mention that we had a duck nesting on one of the roofs last year, but said that none of the ducklings survived, due to no nearby water or ponds for them.  However, on June 9/11, we had this article in the hydro newsletter:

Last Friday afternoon, Corporate Facilities received a call that a mother duck and her ducklings had suddenly appeared on the second floor outdoor terrace at 360 Portage Avenue.

It’s suspected that the ducklings, which couldn’t yet fly, actually fell from the third floor prairie grass rooftop. Aside from the high winds that were swirling them around on the deck, they were very resilient. Along with a little help from a few employees,  the tiny ducklings managed to huddle with their mother in a corner which was blocked from the wind.

Because it was late Friday afternoon, none of the wildlife centres that deal with these situations were available to take action. Recognizing that the ducklings would not survive the weekend if left as they were, two employees with assistance from security captured the mother duck and her ducklings. The family of 10 was taken to Waterfront Drive where they waddled down to the river and swam away — all in all without too many ruffled feathers.

...perhaps the Free Press got these guys mixed up with the nesting goose who died on her nest very early in the nesting season - none of her eggs hatched, of course...