About a half dozen members of Friends of the White Geese held protests along the Charles River near Boston University yesterday to protest landscaping changes they said harm the geese that inhabit the site.

"The geese are trying to nest," said Marilyn Z. Wellons, a member of the group. "And they can't do it because the area has been cleaned and landfill has been put in."

"They've become the aviary equivalent of persona non grata," she added.

The geese come to this small patch of land near a busy four-way intersection by the Boston University bridge every spring to nest.

The nesting area had been protected by fences and left to grow wild until last November. At that time, the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), which is in charge of Boston-area parks, filled the area with soil and seeded grass. Now, people can walk down to the river on a gravel path.

The changes will eventually allow the MDC to build a walkway under the bridge so visitors to the beach can avoid the busy intersection.

Wellons said she wants officials to replace the fence to keep people and their dogs out of the geese's nesting area.

The group plans to return every day to hand out fliers with pictures of the geese that denounce the "secret extermination" of "these famously brave animals."