Canada Geese

The Canada goose pair arrived at our pond in mid March --  right on schedule. The same pair has been coming home to us for many years and we know it's them because they come running when I stand on the back porch and shake the corn bucket (Pavlov's bell). Their memory is clearly much better than my own. Welcome back!
We don't worry about goose nuisance because our pair viciously defends the pond as their nesting territory and ferociously drive away any would-be interlopers.
The goslings are born in early May and we watch as they get bigger every day. By mid summer the parents begin their molt and can no longer fly so the family moves into a more secluded area. And that's the last we see of them until the babies have grown.
By late summer all of the family is able to fly and they commute daily to the local cornfield to feed and bond with the greater flocks. This is called "staging" and they likely negotiate their migration plans.
Before we know it the winds blow chilly and we look up to see V-shaped formations high over head.
Next March I'll again stand on the back porch and shake the bucket.

Just Geese

There came a distant honking,
   an old familiar cry;
A V-like chain appearing
   from out the northern sky.
I spoke of how it thrilled me,
   the wonder of it all.
"It's really nothing," said my comrade,
   "geese migrate every fall."
I saw that old gray gander,
   his eyes alert and keen;
A bold and dauntless leader,
   the monarch of the scene.
I saw those far-flung waters,
   the Gulf of Mexico;
The mighty frozen northland,
   its leagues of swirling snow.
The springtime and the autumn
   spread out before me there;
The years of life rolled by me,
   from youth to silver hair.
I saw how it all happens,
   the hope and the peace,
And yet my friend beside me
   just saw a flock of geese.
                  -Stillman J. Elwood