We’ve been doing a lot of birdwatching this spring. Now that we’ve passed through the migration phase and much of the courtship phase, it’s time for the nesting phase. And here we’ve got to tip our hats to the Canada goose, a bird that we’ve noticed is willing to nest almost anywhere, even if means claiming real estate that already belongs to some other member of the animal kingdom.
First up is a nest on a muskrat “push up.” I took this photo in May at the Cave and Basin marsh near Banff. Muskrats make push ups in ponds and wetlands in the winter, shoving up mud and reeds above the level of the ice. They are usually meant for one (muskrat, that is), but this top floor reno is very goose friendly.
Next up is a nest I snapped in April on a beaver lodge in Minnekhada Regional Park, near Vancouver. We like how the goose actually ended up blending in pretty well. This lodge looks big enough for at least a duplex, but geese like a little bit of space between neighbours.
Finally, we’d heard that Canada geese will even try to take over osprey nests, but unlike in the case of muskrats and beavers, the existing tenants aren’t so keen on this. Last spring, at an osprey nest in Charlo, Montana, a pair of geese found out the hard way that not all real estate is up for grabs!