Fowl Roundup: Game Commission biologists use mid-June flightless span to band Canada geese for tracking
Biologists attach a 9-digit band to the leg of a Canada goose. The unique number is keyed to location, date, and the sex and age-class of the goose.
Game Commission Southwest regional wildlife management supervisor Samara Trusso (left) records data from a Canada goose banding operation at Colonial Reservoir near Perryopolis.
Watching wildlife management in action is interesting and informative, and it offers much to share with readers. This columnist nearly missed a recent opportunity due to a lapse in communication. More bluntly, a 无毛视频渢echnology gap,无毛视频� nearly caused the loss.
I had received a media announcement that Game Commission biologists would be banding Canada geese in the state无毛视频檚 Southwest region on June 19, and that interested participants should meet in Ligonier at 7:00 a.m. The biologists would capture and band geese at Donegal Lake, then proceed to 无毛视频渧arious locations in Fayette County.无毛视频�
I wasn无毛视频檛 free for the Ligonier assembly but surmised I might meet the group later during their Fayette operations. So, I called the Game Commission无毛视频檚 Southwest Region office and was told that the lead biologist would call me to coordinate our rendezvous, which she did. Southwest regional wildlife management supervisor, Samara Trusso, called and informed me her team was headed to Colonial Reservoir after they completed work at Donegal Lake.
Fayette County geography is an interest of mine, but the title 无毛视频淐olonial Reservoir无毛视频� didn无毛视频檛 ring a bell.
无毛视频淚 think that无毛视频檚 along Rte. 51, south of Perryopolis,无毛视频� I said, recalling the abundant Canada geese that loaf along that impoundment无毛视频檚 shorelines.
无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 know what road it无毛视频檚 on. I just have the name of the place and coordinates,无毛视频� Samara replied. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檒l give you the coordinates and we can meet.无毛视频�
Samara, much younger and techno-savvy, undoubtedly assumed that I use a GPS, smart phone or some other device to get around. Wrong. I无毛视频檝e spent a great deal of time along the county无毛视频檚 back roads and pride myself on navigation by memory.
无毛视频淲ell, thank you but I don无毛视频檛 have any way to make use of the coordinates,无毛视频� I said.
An awkward silence hung between us.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檒l just take a chance and go where I think it is,无毛视频� I finally offered, as much to break the stalemate as affirm a plan. 无毛视频淚f I无毛视频檓 not where you无毛视频檙e going, we无毛视频檒l try next time.无毛视频�
无毛视频淥kay, uh, see you there,无毛视频� Samara said, a little dubious.
Another call to long-time friend and Perry Township supervisor, A. J. Boni, dependably knowledgeable and concise, confirmed that the impoundment I无毛视频檇 envisioned was, indeed, Colonial Reservoir.
So, I parked in that wide spot wedged between the lake无毛视频檚 dam breast and Rte. 51, and it wasn无毛视频檛 long before a surprisingly large fleet of Game Commission pickups, bristling with green kayaks, made the tricky left turn from the southbound lane to cram in beside me.
The biologists and their team were all business. Dividing into two groups, one squad took the kayaks back north on 51 to the Reservoir Road intersection, launched there and herded an indignant flock of honking geese down the lake. The other group concealed itself in the woods and high grass near the dam, cautioning me not to alarm the approaching geese while taking pictures. When the flock waddled onto shore ahead of the kayak-cowboys, the ground-team surrounded and proficiently confined them inside a portable pen.
Some biologists took up banding tools, which are specialized pliers. Others manned data sheets and pencils, while still more began reaching into the pen and grabbing geese by the feet. With two banding stations working simultaneously, it didn无毛视频檛 take long to affix aluminum bands无毛视频揺ach with a 9-digit number无毛视频搕o one of each goose无毛视频檚 legs.
无毛视频淭his is part of a federally coordinated effort across the Atlantic flyway,无毛视频� Trusso explained. 无毛视频淓ach band无毛视频檚 number is keyed to a date, location, and the sex and age-class of the bird that wears it. We encourage birders who see and read the number, or, more likely, hunters who harvest the goose, to report the location of the kill. That data enables biologists to track the trends in Canada goose populations and their movements.无毛视频�
Canada geese seen in early summer at Colonial Reservoir, Donegal Lake, and many other places across the Mid-Atlantic states and Midwest, are part of the relatively recent phenomenon known as 无毛视频渞esident geese.无毛视频� These geese have forsaken their species无毛视频� ancient seasonal migration patterns and chosen to live year-round in one favorable location. Biologists estimate there are about 250,000 resident Canada geese living in Pennsylvania, and they无毛视频檙e often considered a nuisance. Biologists use band-return data to design hunting seasons and bag limits that encourage liberal take of resident geese while minimizing harvest from populations that still migrate, as their ancestors always have.
Northwest regional wildlife management supervisor, Roger Coup, traveled from his office in Venango County to assist. 无毛视频淓ven though the hunting seasons are designed to manage resident geese, they无毛视频檙e sometimes a challenge to manage because it can be hard for hunters to get at these flocks,无毛视频� Coup said. 无毛视频淭hey tend to stay around places like day-use parks and golf courses that don无毛视频檛 offer a lot of hunting opportunity.无毛视频�
Colonial Reservoir, incidentally, is private property and not open to public waterfowl hunting. But it无毛视频檚 still important for biologists to keep track of goose populations, and the lake无毛视频檚 owners allow the Game Commission access for its banding work.
无毛视频淲e try to band about 500 every year in the Southwest region, and we have a target of at least 2,500 statewide,无毛视频� Trusso said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 a banded sample of one percent of the statewide population.无毛视频�
According to Trusso, who should know, mid-June is the best time to band geese because they are temporarily flightless.
无毛视频淔or a brief window around the third week of June, they are molting and growing new flight feathers,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淭hey can无毛视频檛 fly then, but they need to stay close to their young at that time anyway, so it works out well for the species.无毛视频�
The team placed bands on 49 geese not previously marked and recaptured 20 birds that were already banded. Those band numbers were recorded for later analysis.
As each goose received its band, the biologists dropped it gently onto the grass, and a long line of newly marked geese paddled back across the lake, unmolested.
Ben Moyer is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and the Outdoor Writers Association of America.