As I was sitting with Limpy in the double decker hide at Lackford Lakes yesterday I couldn't help but notice the behaviour of two Canada geese in front of me. One of them seemed to be giving its tongue a generous amount of fresh air:
Whatever the reason for this behaviour it was adorable to watch!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
When I have seen this behavior before I had always thought it was territorial Maybe the old man just being macho.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Maybe he's hoping to get an audition on The Voice!!!
This isn't typical Canada geese courtship behaviour as they normally do a lot of head rolling or dipping instead of sticking out their tongue but its hard to tell what was happening just from pictures so I'm not sure what it was doing :)
I've seen similar behaviour recently Clare at Woolston Eyes when there another Canada goose or geese encroach too closely so I'm thinking it's a bit of territorial behaviour, wanting their own space on the scrape and maybe proving he is also a good protector !
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Regards, Hazel