The hatch is on. Cute and fuzzy broods of baby Canada geese are making debut appearances across Northern Iowa wetlands.
At Clear Lake, nesting geese can be observed all the way from the Ventura Marsh in the west to Lekwa Marsh located at the lake’s southeastern corner. But of all these spring nesters, no goose pair is better known to more people than the Canadas who annually set up housekeeping at a small pond located on the west lawn of Apple Valley Place Assisted Living. These giant honkers are so popular, in fact, that they even have their own Senior Fan Club.
When the geese first appeared at Apple Valley in the spring of 2009, the female had already been fitted with a number coded, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service leg band. Aided by a telephoto lens, I was eventually able to piece together all the band’s numbers, revealing that the hen [captured and banded when at least one year old] was at least four years old when the pair checked in at the assisted living.
Establishing their first nest at the water’s edge, the love birds promptly produced five goslings. Closely guarded by their devoted parents, the newly hatched babies were an endearing sight. It was little wonder that Apple Valley tenants immediately adopted the goose family as the facility’s official mascots.
Despite the pair’s initial success, shoreline goose nests are often unsuccessful as fluctuating water levels, roving dogs, fox, raccoons, and other factors destroy eggs. To avoid these hazards, Al Hancock and I erected an over-the-water goose structure during the winter of 2009. Returning to the pond in March of 2010, the honkers quickly took possession of the elevated nest and produced six goslings.
The pair continued to successfully nest in the structure each spring until the banded female failed to return in 2018. At least 12 years old in 2017, the hen had produced a total of 45 goslings during her eight years at Apple Valley.
In 2018, a new goose pair arrived on the scene and, finding the pond abandoned, quickly laid claim to the vacant nest structure. Most geese don’t nest until their third year when
