Nesting Season

Geese...they are everywhere. Even in the winters the resident geese remain because they do not know how to migrate south. Since we have a few ponds nearby, we can often hear them without seeing them. The past few weeks two particular adult geese have drawn my fascination, causing me to research a little about them.

The mating season for geese is from February to March. They find a mate for life, but will find another if one dies. Mid-march to mid-May is nesting season. This is where they are right now...in the nesting period. This is the part that drew my attention ---

There is a goose nesting in the parking lot at my local Meijer grocery store. Let me back up and give you a few nesting facts. Typically, a mama goose will find a place near water, near her place of birth...or even the exact place of her birth. The nest usually is on the ground in the open. The sweetest part is that the father goose stations himself nearby, but not too close in order to conceal the nesting location to predators. They stay here for about a month.

I initially noticed the father goose at the grocery store a few weeks ago. At this time I didn't know he was a father goose. He was sitting in the middle of the main drag in front of the store, where cars drive by and yield to pedestrians walking in and out of the store. This goose was literally right in the middle of the road...just sitting there! When cars would drive by (around him of course) he would squawk at them as if they were an enemy. It was really quite interesting. I figured he was just a typical goose there for one day, making cars yield to him as other goose do when they slowly cross streets.

A few days later I was back at Meijer and realized that the goose was still there! So, I took a better look and saw that there were several grocery carts tied together with a rope, forming a type of circular barrier. Orange cones were placed on the outside, one with a sign stating "Beware of the geese." I chuckled, went inside and shopped, then left without any more investigation.

Every time I went to the store for the next two weeks that goose was out in the middle of that parking lot road. I had to share the story with Ben. He told me to bring my camera with me next time and take a picture if the goose was still there. So, I did...and it was still there. This trip was when I realized there was another goose...inside the grocery cart barrier. I took a picture of both geese. Unfortunately, the father goose was not stationed directly in the middle of the road as he usually is, but he was on the side. Then I came home and researched... The goose I saw initially was the father goose stationed nearby the nesting mama goose! How romantic! ha!

I wonder if this is where the mama goose was born. Usually, geese start mating when they are 3 years old. So, was she born here at this Meijer store a little over 3 years ago? Were there carts set up in a circular barrier back then? I would love to know.