It was a beautiful morning and perfect for a day of ringing. The annual Canada Goose round-up is held at this time of the year because the geese are in moult which means they cannot fly - this makes them prime targets for ringers with kayaks! The geese were gently rounded up out on the lake by the kayakers and a few ringers on the far shores and were slowly guided towards the catching area where a large pen was waiting for them with many ringers hiding in the bushes or behind cars!
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| Herding the geese on the water. Photo - Kane Brides. |
As the birds and the kayakers got closer a number of us ventured into the water to stop any escapees from breaking from the main flock, it involved getting a little wet but we're used to it.
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| Poised for action. Photo - Kane Brides. |
The geese were then brought ashore and corralled into their pen. A total of 398 Canada geese were caught along with 1 Greylag and a lost Mallard who was released without being ringed.
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| Corralling the geese into the holding pen. |
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| Forget Wally, find the Greylag! |
The rest of the morning ran really smoothly with 234 new geese being ringed and 164 retraps being processed.
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| Busy Saving, Protecting and Inspiring! |
It was my first experience ringing geese and I really enjoyed it. They are quite the challenge to ring as they are very powerful birds and they are very good at biting your backs whilst being held! I only came away with a couple of bruises, result!
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| My first goose. |
After we finished at the lake the gang headed to the pub for a spot of lunch and some homemade malteser squares. A truly fantastic day was had and I hope to go back and do it all again next year. Special thanks goes the ringing group and to Jerry Lewis for letting me come along and help out.
| Kane, Chirs, Zac and Myself after a great day's ringing. |
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