Corey Marchbank, Climate Witness from Canada © WWF Canada

>br> My name is Corey Marchbank and I live in Miscouche, Prince Edward Island, Canada.  I’m 35 years old and a father of one son and twin girls. I work as a goose hunting guide, which means that I take goose hunters out to the field. I began hunting with my father not long after I learned to walk, and my love of the outdoors led me to become a professional guide 14 years ago. I hunt with clients from the United States and other Canadian provinces. 

For decades, the grain and potato fields around my home have been the primary location for consistent, high quality goose hunting, though lately things have been changing. In recent years I have noticed a dramatic rise in temperatures, a decrease of winter snow and ice, and how these changes have been affecting the migration patterns of Canadian geese in this region.

Mosquitoes in November

Corey Marchbank with his dog © WWF Canada

Goose hunting season starts on the first Monday in October and ends the second Saturday in December.  Usually during the first opening the weather is a bit chilly but, over the last two years, right up to November, we were still swatting mosquitoes, wearing T-shirts and sneakers — not our hunting jackets as it used to be.

We used to get snow by 1 November, but now we’re lucky to get snow by Christmas. During the winter of 2006-07 there wasn’t more than a week of good snowmobiling weather. In years past, snowmobiling was good from Christmas through spring. And I remember when I was a kid, you’d go outside and the snow would be up to the level of the power lines and there were warnings on the radio not to let the kids out. I haven’t seen that in a long time.

Where are the geese?
With the increase in fall temperatures, Canadian geese are migrating south much later in the year. When it eventually gets cold and they migrate through Prince Edward Island, the geese hang out in the local bays and estuaries instead of collecting spent grain and potatoes from the agricultural fields. This is happening for a couple of reasons. First, the waters have not been freezing over like they used to. Second, without the cold temperatures, the geese don’t have the same pressure to stock up on food before continuing their migration south. With the hot sunny days we’ve been having, the geese tend stay out on the water and don’t come inland at all.  It’s a big change.

And now, some of the geese are even staying around all year. I’ve never seen geese do this. They’re opportunists though, and if it’s mild around here, they’ll stick around and take advantage of it.  

Usually the first two weeks of the hunting season are the best hunting that you have the whole season.  Now, most hunters are going home with nothing. During the last two years, on opening day, we haven’t shot a single goose. I have a group of four guys that come every year, and just like clock-work, they expect to get their geese. But the last two years on opening day they didn’t get any. Clients are starting to say to me, "Gee, do you remember when we used to go out and the geese were everywhere and now you can go out on opening day and not see any geese at all?"

Local consequences
If the hunting remains poor for another year or two my clients from the US and other Canadian provinces will probably stop coming. This won’t only hurt local guides like me, but will also affect local farmers too. During the off season, the farms really welcome the additional income from leasing their fields before winter. Good fields can be leased for up to US$4,000.

All the guides are in the same boat. We’re scratching our heads while our clients are sitting out in the fields with sun tan lotion and bug spray.

Local government is now starting to consider changing the season to accommodate the new migration timing by moving the opening to a later start date by a week or more. But change from government comes slow.

Scientific background
Climate analysis for eastern Canada shows that this region has experienced warming by 1 to 2°C over the past 100-200 years. 

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