This stopover of large numbers of geese occurred both during periods of 

 snow and inclement weather (1975) and under fair skies and warm temperatures 

 (1976), indicating a tendency of geese to home to particular migration 

 stops in the spring. This spring stopover may be similar to annual fall 

 migration stopovers which provide available food and loafing areas as 

 suggested by Bellrose (1974). 



Spring migrant flocks consisted of birds of several races as determined 

 by their differences in size, coloration, bill shape, and voice. Small geese of the 

 shortgrass prairie populations (B.c. parvipes) were common in some flocks, 

 although the Great Basin and giant Canada geese were more numerous. Some 

 flocks contained snow geese [Chen caerulesaens ) and white-fronted geese 

 (Anser albifrons frontalis ) . 



Field-feeding flocks of geese were observed closely to locate any marked 

 individuals. In addition to neck-banded residents (appendix D) , some birds 

 neck-banded in other areas were also observed. In 1975, two geese neck- 

 banded by Ducks Unlimited were observed near the mouth of Reservation Creek. 

 Both were females banded at Dowling Lake, Alberta, in June 1973, one as a 

 yearling and one as a juvenile. Thirty-one other geese wearing similar 

 bands were observed on or near the river between Reservation Creek and Myers 

 in 1976; all had been banded on their breeding grounds on lakes near Edmonton 

 and Calgary, Alberta, in the summer of 1974 and 1975 (Leitch 1976). No such 

 banded birds were observed in any other part of the study area, which suggests 

 the presence of a migration corridor used by birds breeding in Alberta and 

 migrating across southeastern Montana, as discussed by Bellrose (1968). 



Resident birds (identified by neck bands), including adult females, 

 were observed in the study area during the spring migration period (appendix 

 D). These individuals utilized the same fields as migrant flocks. The 

 territoriality of resident birds was evidenced by their reluctance to fly 

 long distances from the river to feed. As the spring migration period 

 continued and the breeding season progressed, the territorial pairs spent 

 less time in the fields, remaining close to the river nesting sites. 



Crops and Forage Utilized . Observations of field-feeding geese indicated 

 that fields of barley stubble and corn cut for silage were the most preferred 

 in the spring migration period, as they were year-round (table 2). As 

 discussed previously the use of these crops reflects the tendency of geese 

 to feed on the flood plain, often adjacent to the river. During this period, 

 geese were observed flying back and forth over the banks from field to 

 loafing area throughout the day, rather than just at morning and evening. 



Movement . Loafing areas utilized by geese during this period were those 

 used in fall, except where ice covered some loafing sites. Between Glendive 

 and Sidney, where the river was largely frozen, geese loafed on the ice shelf 

 next to pockets of open water. 



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