Room With A View

A ROOM WITH A VIEW
by Sherry Gillam

It Makes me wonder why Canadian Geese decide to nest in an Osprey nest when their normal nesting ritual is on the ground. I would suppose that they are "thinking" out of the box and trying new methods to improve the odds of the survival of their young.

The first time I saw a goose in an osprey's nest was last month in April on Highway 93, just outside of Lakeside, Mt. I did a double take, as others probably did (ought to have taken photos of the skid marks on the road) ...as this is an event that you just don't see everyday.

The unpredictable Montana spring weather may have delayed the hatch ...so if the geese had thoughts...they may have figured that they would be moved out by the time the "snow" birds returned.

There are human made platforms everywhere around the Flathead Lake area built for the osprey and most of them are occupied every spring. When the osprey arrive, you know summer is just around the corner.

One evening I stopped and just missed the photo opportunity of an osprey dive bombing the nest with two Canadian Geese occupants. The mother goose sitting on her treasures while dad honked & hollered and managed to ward off the osprey. I waited for quite sometime for the osprey to come back and cause more havoc, but fortunately for the geese, all was peaceful for awhile.

There was a second nest that also had a Canadian Goose in it, not sure where the male was and never saw an osprey bothering this particular nest. It was a great surprise to see two little yellow heads boppin' around next to mom in the nest.


Now the question is how do the goslings get safely out of the nest? It's probably a good 30 foot drop to the ground and they cannot fly, as far as I know. It is a mystery to me, and would love to find out more. So if you have an answer, I'd love to know if not ....maybe I'll just have to take up residency next spring under the nest & find out:)