A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Inflight Event / Encounter Bird / Animal
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Environment - Non Weather Related
Just after Vr two Canadian Geese came up off the grass on the left side of the runway and flew across the runway. As we broke ground I pulled up to try and avoid them but they impacted the right engine and right main landing gear. There were two very large bangs which I think were compressor stalls from the right engine. We retracted the gear and got a L/G LGCIU FAULT ECAM message. We reported to the Tower Controller that we had hit two Geese but were not sure if they had gone through the engine. The controller said that they had seen fire out of the right engine and asked our intentions. I asked the F/O (First Officer) to put the gear down to see if it would come down ok. We got three down green light on both the gear lights and the ECAM but the ECAM was showing closed but amber door indications. We told tower that we would like to return for a landing on runway 14 considering the possible debris on [other runway.] I continued to fly the aircraft and asked the First Officer to preform ECAM actions. He stated that there were no ECAM actions and the follow up was Crew Awareness. I asked the F/O to call Operations and ask them to get Dispatch in the loop and that we were returning. While he was talking to Operations I told him I would talk to the F/A (Flight Attendant) and the passengers. I called the F/A and explained to them what had happened and that I would make a P/A to the passengers. The F/A said that they could smell a burning smell. I told them that most likely it was from the bird going through the engine. I made a P/A explained what had happened and assured the passengers that all was ok and that we would be returning for landing and that it would be a normal landing.We also got a momentary HYD ECAM which went away. We checked the HYD page and all looked normal. Being we were under max landing weight and we had several ECAMs come up and go away I made the decision to land without flying around to talk to Dispatch or determine all the damage. We had three gears down and locked and both engines running so I determined that the safest course of action was to get the aircraft back on the ground so the passenger anguish would be as short as possible.  We accomplished a before landing checklist and made a visual approach to runway 14 and landed without incident. After clearing the runway we stopped on the taxiway and asked the CFR (Crash Fire Rescue) crew if they would inspect the aircraft and make sure they saw no fire or anything that would prevent us from returning to the gate safely. We were advised that all looked ok and we taxied to the gate with no problem. I stood at the flight deck door and apologized to the passenger for the inconvenience and thank them for their understanding. Almost all of the passenger thanked me and said that the crew did a great job and that we didn't need to apologize. Many thanked me for comforting and reassuring them while we were in flight.
A319 Captain reports hitting two geese on rotation. The only damage appears to be to the gear doors and the crew returns for an uneventful landing.