Tracking what happened to the Canada Geese

Woodmere resident Beth Rudetsky follows her instincts

Posted

Woodmere resident Beth Ruderight is not a trained investigator or a journalist, however her nose for something is right now  lasered in on an issue that became a local news story.

Rudetsky and her friend Joseph Kelberman began visiting Milburn Pond Park in Baldwin frequently in April as the coronavirus pandemic hit its stride. “It’s really pretty and there a lot of Canada Geese,” Rudetsky said, “the Coral House (a catering hall) was closed and no one was around. There are some benches and it is very comforting and nice to see all the geese.”

Being at the park at least four times a week, Rudetsky and Kelberman built a familiarity with the Canada Geese that inhabited the 24-acre divided by Milburn Creek taking photographs of them, making videos and noting the families as goslings (baby geese) became what the couple called “teenagers.”

After a week’s respite in June, Rudetsky and Kelberman returned to the park on June 21, and noticed something odd. “We walked into the park and the pond was completely empty,” Rudetsky said, “alarm bells didn’t quite go off yet.” Yet, it did not feel right, she added.

Wanting to find out what happened, Rudetsky and Kelberman went to the First Precinct in Baldwin, thinking that possibly people setting off firecrackers had scared the geese away. “The police said investigate, so I stepped up to the role and became an investigator,” Rudetsky said.

She then called the South Shore Audubon Society and learned that it had been the Canada Geese’s molting period when the birds shed old feathers and cannot fly. “A light bulb went off to what happened,” Rudetsky said.

Continuing her sleuthing, she called the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and wrote to the Nassau County Parks Department, asking where the geese went.

“A woman from the DEC said they were rounded up and euthanized,” Rudetsky said, “I was crying, shocked, devastated.” Then Rudetsky contacted Newsday. On his friend’s detective work, Kelberman said: “I think it was brilliant. No one else was doing this.”

It turns out 86 Canada Geese were killed because of the park’s proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services department confirmed the June removal of the geese in a July letter to Nassau County and apologized for what was called an administrative error. Parks that have birds removed are supposed to be within seven miles of an airport. Milburn Pond Park is roughly 11 miles from JFK.

Along with being birds that could cause problems for aircraft, Canada geese are known for establishing breeding colonies in places where there is food and few natural predators. Because of its breeding success the birds are frequently considered a pest species due to its excrement, depredation of crops, noise, aggressive territorial behavior towards both humans and other animals, and its habit of begging for food, which is encouraged by humans feeding the Canada geese.

Rudetsky said that she just kept making calls and became involved because no one else was pursuing it. “I wanted to find out what happened,” she said. The takeaway from all her investigative work she added is: “That you can, as a citizen, start to question … keep following your heart and see something through.”  

Baldwin Herald editor Bridget Downes contributed to this story.