I have fun honking at the geese, as they fly over, heading for the fields to eat, or just to move on. A huge flock was honking toward me yesterday evening and I started a-honking back. Half veered off in my direction, and the rest kept going! I wonder what they were thinking? Any of you ever do any Honking?? ...then there are human honkers!
As my avatar suggests, I am very much a duck person. Geese and swans are close relatives, though, so I don't mind geese in the least, though I have never honked at them. I've seen a few skeins flying over in the past week. Judging from their direction, they were migrating south, probably coming down from Iceland. It's always interesting to watch them for a whole and to see how they keep their V-formations, with different birds taking over at the front.
Canada geese are such a nuisance around here with all the honking and pooping all over the yard. I steal their eggs to keep the population down. Did you know one goose egg equals three chicken eggs? Omelets anyone? We do have ducks, four that live here, and several that stop by during migration.
Kate Rusby is great - I saw her at a folk festival a few years ago. She has a beautiful, crystal voice and it comes as a lovely surprise when you hear her speak because she has a broad Yorkshire accent. Back on the subject of geese, I saw one of these quite recently: It's a bar-headed goose, which is not a native British species. It might be an escapee from a collection or perhaps a small population has started here. It's very possible - we have mandarin ducks and ring-necked parakeets in quite large numbers in the UK and they are definitely not native species.
Honkers? I always suspected you were a little Bonkers I enjoyed Kate Rusby. Good music. So, what'll be?...Grey Goose on ice…..or Grey Goose on ice?
Wade Hemsworth performs his song "The Wild Goose" on Murray McLauchlan's radio program "Swinging on a Star" (CBC Radio, 1992).
The Grey Goose by Gail Roberts My friend Grey Goose flew by today honking loud in mournful greeting. Poor goose, poor goose alone you fly, as two by two your flock glides by. Did hunter’s aim or beast of prey Steal your life long mate away? It matters not what wicked blow Suffice, you fly alone. Then as I watch, you soar in flight skim low down river’s canyon I bow my head and pray next year you’ll fly with a companion.
Many years ago , when my kids were still young, we found a goose and rescued her. There was a creek out behind the row of cabins where we lived, and one afternoon, the kids came running up to tell me that there was a goose out in the creek. This happened to be early winter in eastern Washington State, and there was several feet of snow on the ground, and ice in the creek. I don't know where the goose came from, but there was nothing in there for her to eat, and she would have probably frozen overnight. However, she did not want to be caught, and I spent the next half hour or so wading up and down in the creek as the kids tried to head her back close enough for me to catch her. By the time that I did get her caught, I was both soaking wet (almost to my waist), and very frozen. We had a little pen with a few chickens in it and there was food and shelter for her there with the chickens. At first, we said maybe we would have goose for Thanksgiving dinner; but she actually became such a pet that this idea was soon abandoned. We had her for several years, and she became attached to my (ex)husband. She would follow him around, and when he was underneath the car working on something, there would be the goose with her head poked underneath the car, too, just like she knew all about car mechanics. She was actually a wonderful guard dog, as well. Anytime a car pulled into the driveway, she would be out there and honking loudly to let us know that we had people on the property.
We have the Nene goose here in Hawaii & the Nene goose is our State bird. I haven't seen the Nene goose all the decades that I've lived here. I've seen many other birds, but not the Nene.