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excellent waterfowl food plants. Little high-quality upland <br />nesting habitat exists'in close proximity to the pond, the <br />primary reason being mowing patterns on adjacent lands. <br />Canada geese regularly rest and feed on Silver View Pond. <br />As many as i0 geese were observed feeding on mowed grass and <br />grass seed on uplands immediately adjacent to the pond. The <br />combination of mowed grass and open water has made the pond <br />highly attractive to geese. Nesting habitat for geese is <br />very limited since typical nesting sites consist of muskrat <br />houses or dry -hummocks within shallow marshes. The only <br />suitable nest location appears to be the shallow marsh/shrub <br />swamp which lies between the pond and Scotland Green <br />Apartments on the east arm; this area appears large enough <br />to support only one pair of nesting geese. Since geese <br />usually return to areas they have previously used (bringing <br />their broods with them), the number of geese using the pond <br />is likely to increase with time. It is likely that geese <br />will become a problem to adjacent landowners and the city <br />due to the vegetation damage and feces geese leave behind. <br />This is particularly likely if geese are allowed to nest in <br />proximity to the pond. <br />Silver View Pond is also utilized by a number of other bird <br />species. Numerous green herons (Butori.des virescens) were <br />observed feeding on minnows in the pond and a limited amount <br />of suitable nesting habitat exists for this species in <br />contiguous wetlands. Periodic feeding use by great blue <br />herons (Arden herodias), black -crowned night herons <br />lycticarax n,ycticorax) and common egrets (Casmerodius albus) <br />would also be expected; however, the limited fish population <br />in the pond is not sufficient to make it high quality <br />feeding habitat for these larger heron species. Contiguous <br />shallow marsh and shrub swamp areas are suitable habitat for <br />sedge wrens (Cistothorus platensis), yellow warblers <br />(Dendroicapetechia), and red -winged black birds (Agelaius <br />hoeniceus) . <br />P ._ <br />Silver View Pond supports a limited population of muskrats <br />(Ondatt,a z_ibethicus). The limiting factor for muskrats is <br />the availabilit3• of den sites. All of the muskrats in the <br />pond utilize bank dens rather than building houses from <br />emergent vegetation (due to the limited amount of cattails <br />and bulrushes in the pond). The number of potential den <br />sites is controlled by soil types and by the territoriality <br />of individual muskrats. Muskrats do some damage to <br />shoreline areas with organic soils; however, they also <br />consume macrophytes year-round and help to control <br />macrophyte density. <br />There is evidence of past beaver (Castor canad_ensis) <br />activity around Silver View Pond; however, no beaver <br />presently inhabit the pond. While beaver would add to the <br />wildlife diversity of the pond, they are incompatible with <br />76 <br />