Canadian Goose on Ice

The big freeze is over - for now - and the ice is melting away. This picture is of a Canadian Goose at Huntley Meadows, a small slice of nature on the south side of Alexandria, Virginia.

Canadian Geese winter in the Chesapeake area and feed on the abundant grain remnants on local farms. In fact, the pickings are so bountiful, many geese stay in the area year round instead of migrating - as their name would indicate - to Canada in summer. While once once considered threatened, their numbers have rebounded to the point of being that the non-migratory geese are considered a nuisance often eating food source traditionally used by other creatures.

At Jug Bay staff and volunteers have gone to much effort to fence in stands of wild rice to protect them from the voracious geese in the spring and summer. These steps have helped the wild rice, which is important many birds species to rebound dramatically at Jug Bay.

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