The Canada Geese
have taken up penthouse accommodations
in the osprey platforms.
Two lady geese on two platforms
watch the cars pass on the highway
enjoying the view,
liking this nest.
They’re distant neighbours
proud to be moving on up.
I wonder how that will go
when the ospreys return?
.
.
(Ospreys are raptor type birds that like to live beside lakes and rivers where they are avid fishers, are partial to building their huge nests on the T-bars of power poles. The hydro company and/or local naturalists, build platforms beside tempting poles to relocate them to safer premises. The ospreys will return to these nesting sites year after year. Apparently, the geese like them, as well! This video is from the other side of the country, back in 2011)
Shawn L. Bird 
It will be interesting when the ospreys come home to roost. Geese can be formidable, but ospreys moreso.
I will be watching on my commute! I confess to being a little concerned about the baby geese. They’re going to have to fly to get out, and it’s a lonnnnnnnnnng way down if they don’t quite get it!
Glad you said Canada Geese, although the video says Canadian Geese. I guess the geese are Canadian even though they’re Canada!
🙂
The geese are claiming squatters’ rights? Can the ospreys get an eviction order? They may be raptors, but geese have mean beaks and a bad attitude.
They seem to be!
Nice twist…
🙂
I enjoy your poems, there’s something of Wendy Cope in them! Looking forward to your future efforts 🙂
I don’t know Wendy Cope! Thanks for the introduction, I’ll go check her out. 🙂
Can’t resist sending you one by her!
Bloody Men
Bloody men are like bloody buses –
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.
You look at them flashing their indicators,
Offering you a ride.
You’re trying to read the destination,
You haven’t much time to decide.
If you make a mistake, there is no turning back.
Jump off, and you’ll stand there and gaze
While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by
And the minutes, the hours, the days.
Wendy Cope
lol Fun. Thanks!
The same thing has happened near here, in Missoula, MT, near the ballpark. I don’t know how things worked out. Usually geese brood on the ground … so the question about the HOLEY BOAT! long plunge to the ground is apt. And about the returning ospreys, too. I should ask around and see if anyone knows the end of the story from last year. Good poem.
Thanks. I look forward to hearing what happened!
Uh oh, those birds are going to be in trouble STAT! Can you contact your local Wildlife Officer? You see, the babies, once born, will walk right off the edge to a tragic end. Great poem, bad “penthouse”.
Canada Geese aren’t a protected species, and I don’t think there’s a conservation officer for miles. They concern themselves more with invasive cougars and bears…
Cougars and bears…. no wonder the geese consider this a safe(r) bet!
lol
Here sometimes White-bellied Sea Eagles tend to do the same, nest on the cross arm to a power pole, but when found and not nesting, their nest are raised to a much safer height above the pole, because if removed, they would just build the nest again.
That is probably a less expensive option than a specialized pole!
The theory is, most bird young don’t fall out of a nest on their own, rather they become evicted by a sibling when there is more than one in the nest, or by a foreign bird, thus it just becomes a case in creating wing and nest clearances for the parents and young.
Sibling rivalry at its best!
neat poem – I like the vivid factual tone that matches the photo
Thanks.
[…] A corollary to an earlier post: https://shawnbird.com/2014/04/08/poem-real-estate/ […]