This one was exactly a week ago, but I already had the Estate Find posted, plus in the late morning we lost internet. However, we’re going to build to this one a little.
I’ve mentioned before about the subspecies of Canada goose that’s been hanging around, a dusky Canada goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis.) We’re considering him likely a male due to behavior, though he’s recently been alone, and from time to time he has minor altercations with another pair that visits the yard, a male Atlantic Canada (Branta canadensis, the most common subspecies) and his dusky wife, which happens on occasion; a previous Estate Find showed some Canadas crossbred with what appeared to be domestic Roman geese, so they’re up for anything it seems. There’s a curious dynamic in their interactions, though:
Then a week ago, The Girlfriend and I looked out back around noon and found this:
Earlier, we’d had a pair of dusky Canadas visiting, then it went down to just one hanging around quite a bit, as seen in the video, but now suddenly there was a pair again with their geeseling (yes, that’s the proper plural term from now on.) We’re surmising that the male was hanging around because it was normally pretty quiet and of course we were throwing down corn routinely, while the female sat on the nest someplace unknown to us – but that means he wasn’t around for protection for a large percentage of the time. Is that typical? Regardless, since this appearance the dusky has not been spending time in the pond.
The geeseling were foraging with mom enthusiastically, and occasionally flapping their little stub wings.
We were out on the deck and at the edge of the yard observing them, and the parents kept an eye on us but otherwise weren’t concerned, even as we walked around a little. This was not the case when the territorial pair arrived on the scene, though.
With this arrival, the parents became quite wary and the foraging halted, with the geeseling remaining clustered around mom. Now, we’re fine with letting wildlife figure out their own dynamics – except when it comes to the babies. While the dusky pair were likely capable of defending them and, while we watched, the territorial pair did nothing but make a lot of noise, we weren’t going to sit by and watch the young-uns get harassed or savaged – not in our backyard. I started circling around, still with the camera in hand though.
You’d think the female, at least, may have learned her lesson, but there she is egging on the male, who was being as obnoxious as usual – at least, until he realized that I was ambling up from the side. His honking got slower and quieter until it was little more than a faint question from the shy kid at the back of the class, and I suggested he get back into the pond. He was hesitant, though the female was already taking the hint. I repeated my suggestion, stepping closer, and he gave me a defiant hiss that he could see failed to impress me, and he sidled into the pond, trying to maintain his dignity. Once they had ceased trying to claim the backyard, I circled back but fired off a few frames of the dusky brood as I was doing so.
Is that adorable or what? Just the luck of the timing, really, but you don’t have to know that.
Dad stood by dutifully, but he’d been getting fed daily by both of us and had approached pretty close on numerous occasions, so he appears to have decided we were cool and did nothing more than stand by, and mom was visibly unconcerned. The brood took her cue, with one examining me intently.
I didn’t have the tripod set up and so didn’t attempt more than a single video clip, since these were with the long lens, and video with that and no tripod is nausea-inducing. There wasn’t a lot to see other than some ambling about and packing at the grass anyway, though occasionally one of the geeseling would attempt to decapitate a flower and fall over. We’re geussing they were no more than a couple days old.
Unfortunately, this was their only appearance so far, which is a shame, because we distributed gosling [sic] crumble in the yard for their return, and I’m almost certain that the pond is too shallow to have any predators like snapping turtles and largemouth bass, which certainly reduced any of the broods that hatched out at the neighborhood pond by the old place, so it should be quite safe. I can’t vouch for nighttime predators like foxes, raccoons, and coyotes however, but I also know that there are countless areas in The Bayou that should be safe from such, or at least provide adequate warning from the splashing as they attempt to get close. Regardless, it was an entertaining afternoon, and we were pleased that the parents brought them by.