On 4/5/2014 4:32 PM, nestork wrote:

It's official. Spring is here.

This morning I saw the first group of Canada geese flying north over
Winnipeg.

By the time the snow melts, there'll be tens of thousands of them flying
north over the city.

There's a huge wetland marsh located due north of Winnipeg. It's about
14 square miles of wetlands that are ideally suited for ducks and geese
to nest and breed. It's called Oak Hammock Marsh, and it's said that
ducks and geese that are born there will return to that same marsh the
following spring to nest and breed with other ducks and geese. So, that
marsh is like a duck and goose factory.

My understanding is that the Oak Hammock Marsh gets a lot of the money
it needs to operate from Ducks Unlimited, and Ducks Unlimited is really
the duck hunters of Canada and the USA. So, having that huge wetland
north of Winnipeg helps ensure a large and healthy duck and goose
population in North America.

They have a hiking trail through Oak Hammock marsh, and I've hiked it,
but it's only open in the fall when the young ducks and goslings have
already taken wing. I guess they're concerned about people disrupting
the ducks and geese during the mating season in the late spring and
early summer.

'About Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre'
(http://www.oakhammockmarsh.ca/about-us/)





I used to love to goose hunt but Canada's started getting sparse and
daily limit went from 4 down to 1 with shorter season. We were not
allowed to shoot snows but now they overrun the marshes here in Delaware
and there is practically no limit. Most of the Canada geese now in the
state are resident. As Oren points out elsewhere they can be a PITA on
golf courses and business sites.