I took a quick look through the St. Mary's Fish Hatchery Sunday afternoon around 
3 p.m.  Most of the ponds that are that were drained are dried out.  There were 
only a few Killdeer in the way of shorebirds.  I made one pass through in the 
car and only saw a couple Northern Shovelers and Wood Ducks among the Mallards.  
There were several hundred Canada Geese in the grassy areas near the building; 
busy blanketing everything with their droppings.
I turned around at the far end and checked again as I was driving back out, and 
was surprised to see 7 Cackling Geese on the pond just south of the building.  
They were huddled in a tight flock, swimming near a group of Mallards which 
provided a great size comparison.  They were only slightly bigger than the 
Mallards, with their cute stubby bills.  They seemed nervous when I stopped the 
car to look.  They swam toward the back of the pond, staying tightly grouped the 
whole time.
 I found that a great behavior comparison to the Canadas ten yards from my car, 
grazing in the open grass like sheep.

Brian Menker
Dayton/Springfield




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