{"id":110368,"date":"2023-02-18T04:45:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T11:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110368"},"modified":"2023-02-18T04:45:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T11:45:52","slug":"canada-geese-courtship-a-prelude-to-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/18\/canada-geese-courtship-a-prelude-to-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada Geese Courtship: A Prelude To Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

February might seem early but I’m already noticing that Canada Geese are pairing up at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> which is a prelude to the arrival of spring.<\/p>\n

\"PairPair of Canada Geese on the bank of the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The courtship of Canada Geese isn’t as elaborate as the dancing of Sandhill Cranes in spring. It also isn’t the auditory delight of warblers singing to attract mates or the haunting calls of Long-billed Curlews during courtship.<\/p>\n

The courtship of Canada Geese involves pair bonding, head bobbing, wing flapping, and vocalizations. The males will often perform a head-bobbing dance, in which they lower their heads and quickly raise them, while emitting a series of honks and grunts. This dance is performed to attract the female’s attention and demonstrate their strength and agility.<\/p>\n

In the photo above there is a second goose resting behind the standing goose. The resting goose may be a female and the standing goose, a male. The males are very protective of their mates.<\/p>\n

\"CanadaCanada Goose standing guard over his mate on the frozen Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/5000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Near the two Canada Geese on the riverbank I photographed two more geese on the frozen Bear River. The presumed male, shown above, was very vocal when I stopped my Jeep next to the road. He was about 20 feet away from his mate and I couldn’t get them both in my viewfinder without taking off my teleconverter. Instead of removing my teleconverter I took several photos of them both individually.<\/p>\n

\"CanadaCanada Goose resting on the frozen Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The presumed female Canada Goose was resting on the snow-covered, frozen river. She was silent but was very alert.<\/p>\n

Seeing that the Canada Geese have started pairing up reminded me that spring is just around the corner. I needed that reminder because this has been a long, strange, gray winter. I am more than ready for warmer, sunnier days.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Canada Geese photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February might seem early but I’m already noticing that Canada Geese are pairing up at Bear River MBR which is a prelude to the arrival of spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,28,26],"tags":[4004,4529,32,4774,4343,6926,713,4775,3747,4109,13686,4064,11852,4156,5558,13685,6329,4050,953,2063,373],"class_list":["post-110368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-canada-geese","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bear-river","tag-branta-canadensis","tag-canada-geese","tag-canada-goose","tag-frozen","tag-geese","tag-goose","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-guard","tag-ice","tag-ranchlands","tag-resting","tag-river","tag-river-bottom","tag-riverbank","tag-snow","tag-standing","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/canada-goose-winter-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4171.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sI8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100013,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/15\/canada-geese-are-pairing-up-signs-of-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":110368,"position":0},"title":"Canada Geese Are Pairing Up – Signs Of Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last couple of trips up to Bear River MBR I have noticed that the Canada Geese have already started pairing up which is a definite sign of spring.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Canada Geese on the icy Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/canada-geese-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/canada-geese-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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