Canada geese usually molt, or shed their flight feathers, from late June to early July, as a part of their preparation for migration. During molting, adult geese are unable to fly for 20–40 days while their new feathers grow in. This keeps them on the ground, which can lead to increased sightings of geese and their young walking across roads. It’s not unusual to see traffic stopped in the road, some drivers honking, while the geese meander across the road. Those drivers are not aware that their honking only disturbs me 🤨 and not the geese.
The geese that didn’t breed during the season typically molt first, followed by adults with young right before their babies get their first flight feathers. Growing these new feathers is very energy intensive, so geese are hungrier than usual during this time. This means there’s gonna be more poop, everywhere! We call our daily walks at this time of season, the Goose Poop Boogie. So for the past several weeks, I’ve seen several groups of 15 to 30 geese, laying on the ground (as in the above image), eating and pooping at the same time. It does make for some easy photographs but ya gotta watch where your step’n. Happy July 1st!!