Category Archives: Water and Shore

Miniature Canada Goose? Or Something Else?

Musings & News, Water and Shore
Miniature Canada goose? Comparison of cackling goose to Canada goose (photo from US Fish and Wildlife, Northeast Region)

8 April 2025

I try very hard not to be gullible but sometimes I get taken in. Yesterday was a lesson in Do Not Believe Everything You See On The Internet even if you trust the source. I’m bringing this up today so you, too, can learn the truth.

Yesterday I saw an incredible photo of a very tiny goose from Wild Bird Fund, a trusted wildlife rehab agency in New York City and I believed it. Wrong! It was posted on April Fool’s Day. Duh!

The good news is that in looking up dwarf geese I learned that poor nutrition in the gosling phase can stunk the growth of a young Canada goose who then never reaches full size. Here’s the corrected news.

A Canada Goose the Size of a Pigeon?

Now, what about that half-sized goose in the photo at top? Is it a dwarf? No. It’s a different species!

The Cackling Goose was long considered a group of smaller subspecies of the Canada Goose. In 2004, the smallest 4 of the 11 recognized Canada Goose subspecies were split out as the Cackling Goose. Canada and Cackling Geese hybridize in several locations, which can further complicate identification in the field.

— All About Birds: Description of Cackling goose

Cackling geese (Branta hutchinsii) are about the size of mallards, have stubby bills, steeper foreheads and shorter necks. They are a Rare Bird in Pittsburgh though quite common in winter in New Jersey, the Great Plains and California’s Central Valley.

Two cackling geese with a Canada goose (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

A Canada Goose the Size of a Pigeon?

Bird Anatomy, Water and Shore
“The Canada Goose at Kennedy Lake is quite tame.” (photo by Brent Myers via Flickr Creative Commons license)

7 April 2025

UPDATE: Thank you Amber VanStrien for pointing out that Wild Bird Fund posted this “news” on APRIL FOOL’S DAY … And I fell for it. However, there really are dwarf geese that are less than half the size (44%) of a normal Canada Goose. See revised text below.

Typical Canada geese, like the one shown above, are large birds as tall as our knees when relaxed and foraging and bigger when angry. You can’t hold one in the palm of your hand so I was amazed to see this photo of a Canada goose in New York City that is only the size of a pigeon! (Hah! It’s an April Fool’s joke.)

“Lilligoosian” was supposedly in rehab at the Wild Bird Fund on Columbus Ave, Upper West Side, NYC –> 1/10th the size of a normal Canada goose, half the size of a mallard, and just a few grams heavier than a male pigeon.

Do very small birds like this exist?

David Sibley explains in his article Do “dwarf” birds exist? that “continued poor nutrition [during the gosling stage] results in birds that never reach full size and remain smaller than normal, as several studies on Snow and Canada Geese have shown.” For instance, from a study in 2015:

Canada goose goslings fed low-protein (10%) diets were on average 44% lighter in body mass, had slower growth rates and were delayed >20 days in reaching 90% of asymptotic size compared with Canada goose goslings fed 18% protein.

— from Ecological implications of reduced forage quality on growth and survival of sympatric geese

So “Lilligoosian,” the pigeon-sized Canada goose, was probably Photoshop’d but there are such things as dwarf geese. Goslings can be stunted by unhealthy food and reach only half the size of a normal Canada goose in adulthood.

Rare Goose Visits Pittsburgh

Musings & News, Water and Shore

30 March 2024

UPDATE 14 April 2025: As of yesterday the barnacle goose was on the move. He was seen at Highland Park in the morning but not found in the evening.

Yesterday morning Amy Henrici found a barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) with a flock of Canada geese on the Allegheny River in East Deer Twp. This is an incredibly rare bird for Pittsburgh considering that its winter range is in Northern Europe.

Barnacle geese breed in the Arctic — Greenland, Svalbard and Siberia — plus a few places in Northern Europe, and spend the winter in Ireland, the UK, and the coast of the North Sea.

Range map of barnacle goose, distinct populations (map from Wikimedia Commons)

My original guess was that this one accidentally turned southwest (instead of southeast) when it left Greenland and eventually arrived in Pittsburgh 3,000 miles away.

But I’m probably wrong! Mike Fialkovich pointed out that there’s a Greenland population that regularly migrates along the East Coast:

Barnacle Geese are annual in southeastern PA, appearing in fall and late winter/early spring. They typically are present a few days and then move on, presumably migrating back to the breeding grounds.

— Mike Fialkovich comment on this article, see comments section

So this goose may well be a southeastern PA visitor that made his way west of the Appalachians. But he’s the first to make it here!

Many birders have visited the hotspot to catch a glimpse of the bird. Corvus captured awesome photos.

My day was so busy on Saturday that I did not go see the goose but I’ve seen them in Finland so I didn’t feel too bad. I stopped by Sunday morning, 30 March, and saw him for myself.

Barnacle goose at Creighton, PA 30 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I can’t believe I wrote about barnacle geese just three weeks ago, knowing we would never see one in Pittsburgh because they never come here. And now one has.

p.s. Here’s how they got their “barnacle” name.

Population Hit by Bird Flu Recovered in Just 2 Years

Migration, Musings & News, Water and Shore
Barnacle goose closeup (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

9 March 2025

Every autumn barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) leave their arctic breeding grounds and migrate to Europe. In 2021-2022, those wintering at Solway Firth, UK(*) became infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and 31% of them died. Even though their population had been devastated, they recovered to full strength in just two years. This can give us hope for North American birds hit hard by bird flu.

Wild barnacle geese breed in Greenland, Svalbard and Siberia yet each population has its favorite wintering site as shown on the map. Counts on the wintering grounds are directly tied to one breeding location.

Distribution of barnacle geese highlighting the studied population in 2021-22 (map from Wikimedia Commons)

The winter population at Solway Firth breeds at Svalbard.

Wintering flock of barnacle geese in the fog at Solway Firth (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

When bird flu hit Solway Firth in the winter of 2021-2022 researchers began a two+ year study to measure the demographic impact of the major HPAI outbreak on barnacle geese. During the outbreak they carefully counted dead goose carcasses and, thanks to fencing, were able to extrapolate for predation.

By February 2022 the barnacle goose population had dipped precipitously, but in the two years that followed the number of juveniles increased even faster. High birth rates on the breeding grounds quickly made up for the loss of adults.

Year to year maximum late-winter count of barnacle geese at Solway Firth. From Impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on a Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis population wintering on the Solway Firth, UK

Researchers speculated that …

The large impact of HPAI-related mortality on the Solway Barnacle Goose population was rapidly recovered, probably through a combination of the widespread development of natural immunity and high levels of breeding success in the years following the outbreak.

— Impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on a Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis population wintering on the Solway Firth, UK

In Pennsylvania, snow geese have been hard hit with wild bird flu. It will be interesting to watch how their winter population fluctuates in the eastern U.S. in the years ahead.

p.s. We don’t have barnacle geese in the U.S. Here’s look like.

Barnacle geese (center of photo) look unique but are similar in size to their nearest relative the cackling goose.

One barnacle goose with many cackling geese (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Size comparison! Though cackling geese look like Canada geese they are much smaller. Thus barnacle geese are smaller than Canada geese we see in Pittsburgh.

Two cackling geese with a Canada goose (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

(*) Solway Firth forms the western border of Scotland and England.

Remembering When I Climbed Lake Superior

Travel, Water and Shore, Weather & Sky
The mountain of ice on Lake Superior was glacial blue in the distance, 16 Feb 2014. People provide some scale (photo by Kate St. John)

27 February 2025

This morning I am in Duluth, Minnesota where today’s temperature will range from 30°F to 39°F, far warmer than my last visit in February 2014 when it was –16°F to 0°F.

That was the winter of the Polar Vortex when it was so cold for so long that Lake Superior froze solid — a rare occurrence because it is so deep. When our birding group reached the shore we saw big hills of ice and very few birds. So we got out of the van and climbed the lake.

Standing on Lake Superior’s ice while I take this photo of the mountain of ice in the distance, 16 Feb 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)
I Climbed Lake Superior

This week I won’t be climbing the lake because nearly all of it is open water (shades of blue on the map). In fact, as of last Saturday, total ice cover for all five lakes is only 38.5% (gray and black on the map).

Great Lakes ice cover 22 Feb 2025 from Great Lakes Environment Research Laboratory

Note that Lake Erie was more than 90% frozen because it’s so shallow.

She’s a Mother Again at Age 74+

Musings & News, Nesting & Courtship, Water and Shore
Laysan albatross, Wisdom, with her chick (5 Feb 2021 photo by USFWS Pacific)

17 February 2025

In case you missed it, the world’s oldest known banded wild bird has become a mother again at age 74. (She might be even older than 74.)

Wisdom is a female Laysan albatross who was banded (red Z333) as a breeding adult at Midway Atoll in 1956. Since her species cannot breed until age six and usually delays breeding until age seven or eight, Wisdom is at least 74 years old now, maybe even 77.

Wisdom breeds at the world’s largest albatross colony on Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian Islands chain. Like all of her species she spends most of her life at sea but returns to her breeding grounds each year to rejoin her mate, lay one egg, and raise the chick.

This year she returned as usual and laid her egg in late November. Then she and her mate took turns incubating for about 65 days and their egg hatched in early February. Here’s the chick with its parents. (Wisdom has a red leg band.)

74-year-old Laysan albatross, Wisdom, with her latest chick (video published 14 Feb 2025 embedded from USATODAY)

If Wisdom was a human she’d be part of the Baby Boomer generation. I cannot even imagine being a mother at her age!

Seen This Week: A Gull, 4 Merlins, and 60 Feet into Ohio

Birds of Prey, Nesting & Courtship, Schenley Park, Water and Shore, Weather & Sky
Ring-billed gull wondering if I brought food to Duck Hollow, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

15 February 2025

Welcome to Day Two of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). I’m staying indoors while it snows and rains so much that …

FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
— National Weather Service forecast for Pittsburgh PA 15 Feb 2025

Gull: Since most of the rain will fall south of here the Monongahela River will rise again. It was falling last Tuesday when I photographed one of the many ring-billed gulls at Duck Hollow. This one seemed to be asking, “Do you have food for me?” Someone had left birdseed on the trash can cover.

4 Merlins: Yesterday I went to the Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park half an hour before sunset to see if I could find the two merlins who usually hang out there. As soon as I arrived one flew in and landed on the highest pine in the Palmer Loop Practice Area north of Schenley Drive.

Merlin atop an evergreen, Schenley golf course, 14 Feb 2025, 5:22pm (photo by Kate St. John)
Zoomed cellphone photo: 1 of 4 merlins at Schenley golf course, 14 Feb 2025, 5:15-6:05pm (photo by Kate St. John)

Soon a second merlin landed on top of the tallest tree, a bare tree between holes 8 and 9. I walked a big circle to check for songbirds and saw the first merlin in an intense chase with a third. On my way back to the car I found a fourth(!) and was able to stand in one spot and see all four merlins at the same time.

Four is unusual but I remember a time, perhaps in the late 1990s, when Bill Hintze first found merlins at the golf course. In those days there were sometimes as many as four.

60 Feet into Ohio: On Monday 10 Feb four of us went birding on the Stavich Bike Trail in Lawrence County PA to do a Winter Survey for the Third PA Breeding Bird Atlas. We were ready to head back to the car when I realized we were only a half mile from Ohio. So we kept going, crossed the state line and walked 60 feet into Ohio.

Ta dah! Here we are just inside Pennsylvania. Best Bird: a white-crowned sparrow.

Birding with friends (Donna, Kate, Debbie, Linda) in PA at the Ohio state line, 10 Feb 2025 (photo by Donna Foyle)

Bonus Picture — great horned owlet: Here’s another owlet baby picture from Tues 11 Feb. The white fluff in front of the mother owl is the owlet’s head facing left with its eyes closed.

Great horned owl nest with mother and owlet, Schenley Park, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Happy Valentine’s Day

Nesting & Courtship, Water and Shore
Black-footed albatross courtship dance, Jan 2019 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

14 February 2025

Black-footed albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes) spend most of their lives at sea, so when a couple reunites near their nest they like to strengthen their pair bond with a dance.

video embedded from Greg Joder @EcoEarthNut on YouTube

Learn more about the fascinating lives of black-footed albatrosses at All About Birds.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

p.s. In case you missed it, Mary Ann Thomas wrote about animal courtship and included stories of Pittsburgh’s peregrine courtship in the Post-Gazette: Penguins present pebbles, peregrine falcons bow and more wild courting rituals.

Wild Bird Flu Update in PA

Doves & Chickens, Musings & News, Water and Shore
Snow Geese at Middle Creek, 4 March 2009 (photo by Kim Steininger)

11 February 2025

It’s been six weeks since hundreds of snow geese stricken with highly pathogenic (HPAI, H5N1) avian influenza were found dead and dying in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh and Northampton Counties on New Year’s Day.

By 24 January bird flu had killed 5,000 snow geese in Northampton County as well as raptors and scavengers including bald eagles and vultures and a snowy owl at Presque Isle.

Meanwhile the virus jumped from wild birds to an enormous commercial poultry farm: The first commercial poultry outbreak in PA since Feb 2024 was reported in Lehigh County on 27 January in a 50,000 commercial layer flock (egg farm). All commercial poultry facilities within a 10km (6.2 mile) radius have been placed under quarantine. (This is an example of why eggs are scarce and expensive.)

And so it comes as no surprise that the #1 location for snow goose migration in Pennsylvania — Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area near Kleinfeltersville — has been closed for the spring migration season.

The PA Game Commission announced ACCESS RESTRICTED AT MIDDLE CREEK on 3 February 2025.

HARRISBURG — Due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that is currently affecting many parts of the state, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is restricting public access at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, effective Tuesday.

With the continued warming trends and the anticipated arrival of snow geese to Middle Creek, this decision was made out of an abundance of caution for human and domestic animal health. 

Beginning Tuesday 4 February 2025, the following areas will be CLOSED to all public access:

  • Willow Point Parking Lot and Trail
  • Archery Range
  • Boat Launch
  • White Oak Picnic Area
  • All shoreline access of the lake, INCLUDING fishing

The Wildlife Drive remains seasonally closed, and an extended closure is possible.

Hiking trails (with the exception of Willow Point Trail and Deer Path Trail) and the Visitor Center will remain open during regular business hours, and all events will take place as scheduled. 

All visitors are reminded:

  • If you have pet birds, backyard domestic poultry, or connections with commercial poultry facilities, you are STRONGLY discouraged to visit during this time to minimize transmission risk. 
  • You are HIGHLY ADVISED to remain in your vehicles while observing wildlife from roadways. 

Please remember the public plays a critical role in wildlife health surveillance. Report sick or dead wild birds to the Game Commission by calling 1-833-PGC-WILD (1-833-742-9453).

— PGC Press Release, 3 Feb 2025

Flocks at Middle Creek can contain 100,000 snow geese and 10,000 tundra swans at the peak of migration. This is what it looked like 3 years ago in 2022. It’s easy to see how these birds could spread contagious diseases.

video embedded from PennLive on YouTube

While bird flu (HPAI) spreads during spring migration remember to:

  • Always observe wildlife from a safe distance.
  • Avoid contacting surfaces that may be contaminated with feces from wild or domestic birds.
  • Do not handle wildlife unless you are hunting, trapping, or otherwise authorized to do so.

UPDATE, 28 Feb 2025 via Post-Gazette: The snow goose death toll in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania is now at 5,000 –> and these are just the birds that people could see and count.

Did You Know? Bread Is Bad For Me!

Musings & News, Water and Shore
close shot of ducks by David Tomic via Flickr Creative Commons license

6 February 2025

It sure is fun to feed the birds but not all food is good for them. Did you know that bread is junk food for birds? Just like us, ducks love junk food but it is bad as a steady diet.

Bread, crackers and our own junk food snacks have no nutritional value for ducks and geese. These foods are especially bad for ducklings because their little bodies are still growing and have special nutritional needs.

If a duckling depends on bread instead of a varied normal diet its wing bones will grow in a deformed manner called angel wing, a condition similar to rickets in humans. Both are permanent deformities caused by malnutrition.

Because this bird has angel wing it will never fly.

Duck with angel wing deformity from malnutrition (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Since ducks don’t control their own junk food intake, and since we don’t know how much bread they ate before we got there, don’t feed bread to birds. Maine Audubon suggests what to feed them instead.

Some great options are lettuce or cabbage … Other things you can give them are: corn (not popcorn), rice, peas, broccoli, tomatoes, and most fruits (not citrus).

— Maine Audubon: Do’s and Don’ts of Duck Feeding
“Hey, Duck, no more! Didn’t you hear that bread is bad for you?”

Give this duck some lettuce.

Hey, no more! (photo by Andy Ihnatko via Flickr Creative Commons license)

Read more about bread and ducks in this vintage article from 2018.

Bread Is Bad For Birds