Monday, April 1, 2013

Surprise...you're on candid camera!



Thanks to our great friend, Lawrence Wire, we now have 24/7 infrared video cameras that capture some of the clandestine wildlife happenings around the property.  We have one of our cameras trained on a pair of Canada Geese that arrived in early March.  From our high-tech spying, we have learned that Canada Geese build large mound-nests of sticks on the ground, and they prefer nesting locations that allow for only one or two points of entry.  They lay about 3 eggs per brood.  This pair started incubating around March 24th.  The mated pair stays awake throughout the night - probably the most dangerous half of the day, especially when nesting in the woods rather than in a suburban parking lot - and they do most of their snoozing during the day.  Throughout the night, one of them (I assume the female) remains on the nest, while the other (the male) stays nearby in the cattails.  He guards the water side entrance to the nest, while she faces the land side entrance.  When feeling threatened, the female stands up and spreads her enormous wings while the male, never far away, comes to her side to help address the threat.  Stay tuned for more exciting wildlife behavior as it occurs.