It started four or five years ago, with a single Canadian goose standing in the scruffy grass on the shore of the Pacific Ocean opposite Santa Barbara’s Andrée Clark Bird Refuge. He or she parked there, alone for more than a year, when another Canadian goose must have happened along. Though I never actually saw its arrival, the two apparently met and mated in the quiet of the night, because they eventually reappeared as a couple.
This time, they had moved across the street to the shore of the Bird Refuge lake, on a narrow strip of six feet or so, between the lake’s edge and the popular walkway of the park. There, she laid nine eggs, and about a month later, the goslings hatched. Nesting so close to the path, people with or without their dogs would often walk by, forcing the family to slip into the water and swim away. After many months of living on the popular lake, the goslings learned to fly, and the family migrated north.
The next spring, the whole family reappeared at lake’s edge, near the parking lot, at sundown. I happened to be there walking my dogs when I heard the melodious honking of geese. Upon investigation, I found the parents with their young yearlings lined up at the lake’s edge, singing their hearts out, celebrating their successful return.
The parents took up residence near their previous site and hatched another family, this time producing seven goslings. But now, the congestion of so many geese on such a limited space was beginning to take a toll. The now-grown young geese from the previous summer’s hatch were aggressively defending the family’s nests from all strangers ― people, dogs, and bicycles. With the approach of winter, the group again flew north, and I wondered if we would ever see them again.
The next spring, I looked anxiously to see if they would return. Eventually, a few members of the family appeared at the parking lot, but we never saw the entire family there again.
Then last summer, I was walking the dogs around Lake Cachuma, the large freshwater reservoir up near the San Marcos Pass when, lo and behold, I saw around 20 Canadian geese sailing in the ripples of the lake. I broke into tears at the beautiful sight.
These brave and intelligent birds had found a safe new home.
