Cold Arrival for Canada Geese

Observation: Canada Geese began to arrive at the Alaska Native Medical Center yesterday only to find the lake frozen and most of the ground still covered with snow. The geese appeared to be competing agressively this morning for the little bit of grass accessible along the lake side. The delay in warm spring weather has resulted is lingering ice and snow conditions on the ground. There was more snowfall today. They will have to to go elsewhere this year to find open water. It is interesting to see the seasonal timing affects on migrating birds. We enjoy seeing the geese when they pass through in the spring and fall. On the upside, the geese create a lot of mess on the sidewalks at the medical center which is slippery, gets tracked into buildings and keeps a clean up crew busy. If the geese are elsewhere for the time being, we will miss seeing them but not what they leave on the sidewalks. Mike Brubaker