Driving to work the other day, I saw a familiar sight: hundreds of Canada geese scattered across the frozen athletic fields of James O. Breen Community Park in St. Charles.

Like so many other days this winter, I watched the flocks slowly move along the ground, poking here and there as they browsed on turfgrass. For a brief time I squinted and could almost picture what it must have been like for early settlers as they watched Midwestern bison graze in a similar manner.

These “tiny bison,” as I’ve come to think of them, are everywhere these days, leaving their assorted marks on snow, turf, pavement and the occasional windshield.