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CANADA GEESE NESTING ON P.E.I.

An increasing number of wild Canada Geese appear to be nesting on Prince Edward Island marshes. To 1976, only two entries of Canada Geese nests here were received by the Maritime Nest Records Scheme, but this summer John Clements, a student employed by the P.E.I. Department of the Environment, located 5 nesting pairs of geese in

the Eastern Kings area. An additional brood was sighted by Gail Curry and Rosemary Curley at MacKenna's Marsh, where geese had successfully reared young in 1976.

The following are records of the Canada Goose broods sighted.

Location Number in Brood 1 pair Brooklyn Dam 5 1 pair Prowse's Pond, Bellevue 6 2 pairs Kilmuir (gravel pits) 5 + 3 1 pair Finlayson's Pond, Pt. Pleasant 2 1 pair MacKenna's Marsh, 48 Road 2

It seems likely that these nesting geese reflect a spillover from Moore's Wildlife Management Area since all known nests are located within an 18 kilometer radius of the sanctuary at Milltown Cross.

Five of the 6 nests are located within 10 kilometers of the sanctuary, as the goose flies. Approximately 70 people on the Island hold Canadian Wildlife Service Permits to keep captive Canadas and it is also possible that the wild geese originated from captive flocks.

Most people welcome nesting geese to the Island, but landowner-goose conflicts could arise should numbers of breeding geese increase signifi- cantly. In one instance, a brood of wild Canada's on P.E.I. destroyed nearly an acre of peas by removing the blossoms.

At present, in the Atlantic Flyway alone, numbers of Canada Geese have increased from 400,000 in the 1950's to nearly 2 million geese! As yet, limited goose crop damage occurs on P.E.I., mostly during migra- tions and then in only localized areas.

For further information on the current status of Canada Geese the

reader is referred to the following article in the latest edition of the P.E.I. Environeer, a quartely publication of the Department of the Environment.

Dibblee, Randall, 1977. Canada Geese in P.E.I. and the Atlantic Flyway. Environeer, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Fall).

Rosemary Curley P.E.I. Fish & Wildlife Division

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