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“They’re really good parents”: geese nesting in Waterfowl Park are just doing their job

A Canada Goose standing over a nest with eggs visible, in brown dried marsh grasses, beside a body of water.
The Canada Goose chose to nest close by the boardwalk in the Sackville Waterfowl Park, keeping her gander busy fending off potential intruders. Photo: Erica Butler
Erica Butler - CHMA - Sackville • NB | 12-05-2022
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If you’ve walked through the waterfowl park this spring, you may have noticed a pair of Canada Geese nested close by one of the boardwalks. Depending on your luck, you may also have noticed a rather perturbed gander hissing at you, or even chasing you away from his partner and her nest. Some people have shared their stories of encountering the excitable gander online, partly amused, partly terrified by the large bird.

CHMA met with Beth MacDonald on her way to work at Mount Allison’s ornithology lab, to find out more about these birds. We started off asking why this gander was being so aggressive with some passersby:

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