Re: Kiddie crap

On 2024-06-10, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:45:10 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>

Weird thing about Canadian Geese is that, when I lived in Montana,
basically the only time I saw them was when they were migrating either
north or south and they formed honking V's way up in the air. But, when
I moved to Texas (and when I worked in the Washington, D.C. for awhile)
they were year-round "residents" (or, since, they're "Canadian", illegal
aliens). Every irrigation pond in the Boise area has Canadian Geese (as
well as Mallard Ducks). There's so many of them that they're kind of a
nuisance (same as they are back east). I like the Mallards, the geese
are a little aggressive sometimes. But I enjoy watching both, especially
in the spring when the babies are hatching.

>
https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/osprey-couple-return-to-nest-at-
missoula-ballfield
>
That's the one that gets coverage but other osprey nests get seized by
geese too. I've never caught the act but at some point the goose kicks the
goslings out of the nest, which is on top of a power pole. The goslings
bounce a couple of times and the family waddles off to the river. I
suppose they lose a few goslings. 
>
Depending on the weather sometimes the geese and ospreys timeshare with
the geese gone by the time the osprey get back from California. Otherwise
the nests deteriorate since geese aren't big on home improvements until
it's a bare platform that the osprey reclaim and build a new nest.
>
I miss the ducks I used to see when I took a walk during lunch. They lived
in an irrigation ditch but the city bought it and turned it off. Most of
the land that had been irrigated by it is being developed.  It's ugly now,
just a dry ditch running along the sidewalk slowly being reclaimed by
weeds.
>
https://missoulacurrent.com/ditch-acquisition-missoula/

I'm living in what was farm land 20 (or so) years ago. In Idaho they keep
the irrigation ponds ditches open when they develop land and (in the summer)
you water your yards or gardens with irrigation water (at about $20 a year,
I think). All the houses have two water systems, city water and irrigation
water. It's too bad Missoula didn't implement something like that when your
farm land was "developed."

(Reading the article I see they were concerned about the level of the river,
but doesn't the irrigation feed back into the river anyhow?)

As for the geese taking over osprey nests, that's kind of irritating. When
I was a kid in Maryland our dad used to have us shoot English Starlings
because he said they were chasing out all the song birds. I don't know if he
was right or not — I sometimes suspect the starlings got a bum rap.

I don't think I've ever seen an osprey in real life — or, if I did, I
probably thought it was a hawk.

--
[Self-centered, Woke] "pride is a life of self-destructive fakery, an
entrapment to a false and self-created matrix of twisted unreality."
"It was pride that changed angels into devils..."     — St. Augustine