Today is "World Migratory Bird Day." Happily I have my own flock of migratory birds. Well, not really my own, but they do live in and around the river I see from my balcony. Over the years that I've lived here I've seen many interesting shows put on by my Canadian Geese, or more correctly Canada Geese (you can Google the explanation for the name difference). I saw a rather loud and violent territorial dispute between two ganders, on land and in the water for more than ten minutes. Then they flew off. I w ill never know who won. Of course there are always the loud honking, barking conversations that they seem to like to hold during the night, but my favorite scene happened one sunny morning. I walked out on my balcony with my morning tea in time to see a large mama goose swimming upriver with fluffy little chicks behind her. There seemed to be quite a few chicks so I started counting. There were 21 chicks, all in a perfectly straight line, evidently playing follow the leader. Maybe it was early training for flying in formation or maybe the lead goose was running an avian pre-school. This procession was followed by three adult geese swimming beside and behind the last of the chicks. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
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