05-10-2006 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Nests -- Included in the summary data are the number of nests and eggs destroyed and breeding geese shot as part of the goose hazard reduction effort at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport (Table 4). This work was done in wetlands ranging in area from 7 to 1,325 acres. Except for Wood Lake where two nests have been left to hatch each year, all eggs were destroyed from 1990 to 2005. Based on goose broods observed after the hatch period in mid -Nlay, at least 95% of the nests were found. Yet, over time, particularly in the past 5 years, the breeding populations in these marshes have grown (Figures 8 & 9). This suggests that egg destruction can slow but not stop population expansion in very high quality nesting habitats. However, the situation may differ in small isolated wetlands or in urban lakes with concentrated nesting on islands where locating nests can be done in less time. In these cases, isolation may limit in- migration of new breeders. In 2005, we expanded egg destruction to include isolated wetlands such as Loring Park in Minneapolis and island nesting sites such as Sunset Park in Burnsville. The results were positive at all but two sites of the 11 locations (Table 4). In spite of destroying eight nests at both Moore Lake, Fridley, and Wirth Golf Course, Minneapolis, respectively, 48 geese were found at Moore and 61 at Wirth in summer. It is unlikely that the search crews missed nests at these locations and not at the other nine, thus it appears that summer geese moved on to the two sites after hatching. The creeks flowing into both locations likely permitted,birds easy access. We plan to continue this research next year. Gosling Release - -The MNDNR has found locations for gosling release every year since 1982. More than 58,000 young have been transported to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Dakota, Iowa, or Minnesota and set free. Of those banded, less than 0.04% were trapped again in the Twin Cities. Since 1996, releases have been limited to Iowa (2,342 in 2005) and Minnesota (515 in 2005). This spring, the Iowa Conservation Department indicated that they would not take additional geese. In 2000, the MNDNR prepared a "white paper" on gosling options and is currently exploring additional Minnesota releases, and /or feeding or pasturing the young until they can be processed. If all of the goslings are processed, the expected increase the cost of removal will be $15- 20 /gosling trapped. If only a portion of the goslings are processed, the Canada Goose Program Report2005 3 -15-