Remember these little guys? I have been taking pictures of them every so often and have tracked their growth progress. The above photos were taken on
May 5th. I don't know how old they were, but I would guess just a couple of weeks at most. They have grown so fast since then!
May 20:
I didn't see them as often in the first weeks of May, and their parents were more scared and protective, so walking toward them would basically make them swim away quickly. This was taken from my deck, and it was the only one I got this day.
My neighbor said that the litter (is that the word for birds?) started out 9: 5 and 4 from two sets of parents. But then the 9 became 6 and eventually 6 became 3 before they were large enough to not be a meal for a fox or whatever. Something else of interest that my friend Dan discovered with a little web research is that apparently the parents lose their flying feathers when they have babies, and they don't grow back in fully for up to 40 days.
May 25:
Then over Memorial weekend, I was able to take a million pictures. Please excuse the mess all over the ground. My neighbor feeds the ducks and geese, so they hang out here a lot and it's looking pretty bad.
Not a great photo, but this also shows the size compared to some mallards.
It was interesting to observe the behavior of the parents as the goslings grew. Initially, like I said, they were very scared and always close to their babies. And the mallards weren't always welcome company--the father goose often ran them off into the water. Poor ducks!
Just chillin.
June 6:
They've started showing some adult feathers. The mallards are now totally part of the gang and I never see them chased off anymore. I think once the size of the goslings exceeded the size of the ducks, the parents figured it was okay for them to hang out together.
Honk.
More chillin.
Just a funny photo of the dad.
He doesn't appreciate me getting close and hisses when I do. But he doesn't realize that the jokes on him: he looks like a total dork when hissing! I'm not really sure what would happen if I kept walking closer--would he nip at me or get scared and leave? Does anyone have some geese experience to share?
Today:
You may also be able to tell that now I'm taking pictures with macro lens and they are so much crisper. The lighting and color is better, too. Love!
Pretty soon I won't be able to tell the parents from the kids!
It's really nice out today, and I'm hoping to take more pictures. I know you're surprised. But I also have to do some chores, and this post was part of me procrastinating, so it's time to go!
They grow so fast!!! So cute to see the gosling hanging its leg out to relax. I didn't know that the parents loose their flight feathers for 30 days! (side note: baby birds are a brood or clutch. If they are still in the nest, they are nestlings.) Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteLove this! They're so cute!
ReplyDeleteHonk.
ReplyDeleteI love the progression, very cool. That last picture is really interesting, how close they are to looking like any other Canadian Geese : )
I love the progression and the photos are adorable. Many of them are totally sell-able if you should desire. That macro lens is just amazing in all sorts of ways. Wow!
ReplyDeleteInteresting facts, too. I didn't know about the loss of flight feathers. I guess it's good so they don't abandon those noisy babies. Haha. God knew geese's temperaments and must have thought, there's no way they'll stick by the kids unless they're unable to leave.
We saw a family of geese with teen geese just sitting on the river while rafting the other day, but none of my pictures of them turned out.
Remember when J got bitten by a goose at Lake Tahoe? She was tempting them with Doritos and finally one just bit her hand! She was so scared and crying. But it was a good way to teach her that feeding the geese by hand is not such a good idea!
Mom - thanks for the terminology!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brenda!
Dan, yeah that was for you. :) Yeah, you should see them now. Every day they're a little less fuzzy.
R - Thanks, though I don't know who would want photos of Canadian geese. :P And I totally forgot about J getting bit! So was it actually painful or did it just scare her? I can't remember. I mean, I'd be scared myself, so I'm not diminishing that, just wondering.