WOODLAND HILLS : ‘Goose Walk’ a Close Look at Winter Visitors

Pierce College is planning its first-ever “goose walk,” a day set aside for the public to get an up-close look at the Canada geese that winter each year in the San Fernando Valley.

The Dec. 17 event will be held near the Agricultural Science Building between 7 and 10 a.m., said Ralph Kinchloe, a Pierce biology teacher.

During those hours, the geese forage for tender grasses on the school’s farm.

A $1 charge for those over 12 will go to reseed pastures and for maintenance around the farm, according to school officials. For more information call (818) 719-6447.

The geese have been coming to the school each fall since at least the 1970s, Kinchloe said. Tracking studies show that the birds come from the Great Basin Desert, an area that includes Utah and western Colorado.

“They usually arrive in the San Fernando Valley about mid-October, and reach Pierce by mid-November,” he said “This is the final stop in their migration.”

They come to California because food is scarce in winter in those regions, Kinchloe said. They usually leave the Valley in early March.

Some 3,500 geese spend their winters in the Valley, but only about 1,200 have been counted at Pierce College at one time. The geese began coming to the farm after pastures near Victory Boulevard were developed as part of Warner Center, Kinchloe said.

The birds come to the farm at dawn and leave at sunset, and apparently sleep at either the Encino or Chatsworth reservoirs, he said. It is believed that most of the birds that come to Pierce come from Utah.

That belief is based on studies in which birds were banded at birth with the names of the states in which they were found, he said. One year in the 1970s, 10 of 12 birds found at the farm came from Utah, while the other two came from Montana, Kinchloe said.

College President Mary Lee said the walk is designed to show off the farm to the public. It is also held to draw attention to the school’s efforts “to preserve the nature center and the farm,” she said.

The farm has come under fire in recent years from critics who say it’s a waste of money because of low enrollment in the school’s agricultural programs. But many in the community say the farm is a valuable asset to the urban area surrounding it.

Individuals can sponsor the goose walk for $50, and businesses that pay $250 can have their names painted on wooden signs posted along the walk area, according to school officials. The signs are cut out in the shape of farm animals.