332. Canada Goose

The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) on the Saanich Peninsula has an interesting history that is documented in a paper by Neil Dawe and Andy Stewart. Prior to the 1970’s the Canada Goose was mostly a migrant and winter visitor to our part of the island, although small numbers of the “Vancouver” subspecies of Canada Goose nest on the northern part of the island.   There were several small introductions of Canada Geese to the southwest coast of the British Columbia in the late 1920s and early 1930s and then again in the 1970s when larger numbers of Canada Geese were introduced to the lower mainland and S.E. Vancouver Island. These geese came from a variety of places and did not include the subspecies that was breeding on the island.

The earliest documented release of Canada Geese on Vancouver Island was in 1929 when 16 Canada Geese were let loose from a game farm operated by the province at Elk Lake on the Saanich Peninsula.  These introduced birds were augmented by other introductions and reproduced rapidly. By 1958 there were 200 Canada Geese on Elk Lake and were seen moving between Elk and Quamichan Lake in the Cowichan Valley.  

The earliest breeding record I have found for the Victoria area away from Elk-Beaver Lakes was in the notes from the naturalist Tom Briggs that I have entered into eBird.  On May 16, 1960 he wrote, “Met Dave, Ruth [Stirling] and Diedre; they had seen a goose on a nest ....on top of an old snag" ( https://ebird.org/checklist/S27964036) and for the next few days Tom made repeated trips to the Highlands to show others this nest, an exciting find in 1960! 

In the fall and winter our resident birds are augmented by migrant and wintering geese that breed further north.  Many northern hemisphere geese (Canada, Snow, Ross’s, Cackling, Greater White-fronted, Red-breasted, Barnacle, Brant and Pink-footed) are on the increase. It is estimated that there are three times as many geese in North American as there were 30 years ago. (For a review of trends in northern hemisphere geese click here).  The increase in the combination of resident geese and overwintering migrants can be seen below in the graph for Canada Goose for the Christmas Bird Count for the Victoria area.

Here at Leaning Oaks, we have records of Canada Geese for most of the year, except for the first three weeks of July.  This is the period of the year where our resident Canada Geese moult their flight feathers and cannot fly.  Since there are numerous records from nearby Prospect Lake during this period, and that lake is within earshot, they are clearly quieter during this period as well.