May 3, 2010

Oh Babies!

I was out doing errands one rainy day last week with my trusty camera in tow.   As I was driving, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted this…


Geese babies Three little glowing balls.

Geese with babies 
A whole family of Canada Geese!

Geese babies 2
How cute are they!

“Reproduction
Courting
During the second year of their lives, Canada Geese find a mate. They are monogamous, and most couples stay together all of their lives.[5] If one is killed, the other may find a new mate. The female lays 3–8 eggs and both parents protect the nest while the eggs incubate, but the female spends more time at the nest than the male. Known egg predators include Arctic Foxes, Northern Raccoons, Red Foxes, large gulls, Common Raven, American Crows and bears. During this incubation period, the adults lose their flight feathers, so they cannot fly until their eggs hatch after 25–28 days.

Adult geese are often seen leading their goslings in a line, usually with one parent at the front, and the other at the back. While protecting their goslings, parents often violently chase away nearby creatures, from small blackbirds to humans that approach, after warning them by giving off a hissing sound. Most of the species that prey on eggs will also take a gosling. Although parents are hostile to unfamiliar geese, they may form groups of a number of goslings and a few adults, called crèches. The offspring enter the fledging stage any time from 6 to 9 weeks of age. They do not leave their parents until after the spring migration, when they return to their birthplace. Once they reach adulthood, Canada Geese are rarely preyed on, but (beyond humans) can be taken by Coyotes, Red Foxes, Gray Wolves, Snowy Owls, Great Horned Owls, Golden Eagles and, most often, Bald Eagles.”
Excerpted from Wikipedia

I found it interesting that the adults lose their flight feathers during the incubation period. 

If you are interested, you can read more here.

Geese babies 3
Then it was time to go!

Canada Geese with goslingsWhat a privilege to spend a few minutes with this little family.

I had seen a few families before but never with my camera so when I spotted them, I had to “pull a U-ee”.  Safely, of course!

6 comments:

Betty said...

They are so cute. Thank you so much for giving us this information. I love learning new things.

Willow

Chatty Crone said...

The little babies are so cute. Thanks for the information. I guess they lose their feathers so that they cannot fly away and leave their babies.

sandie

★Carol★ said...

Great pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Goose and family! I remember going to a lake with my parents and watching the Canadian Geese right before they would migrate in the fall. It was pretty special, but nowadays they are hanging out all over the place. The sidewalks at our village hall have to be hosed off every morning, because they are full of goose poop!

Old Time Cindy said...

Babies are so cute. We have three families out back right now. :)
Country Blessings,
Cindy

deb said...

Too cute!
*hugs*deb

Leslie {Goodbye, house. Hello, home!} said...

So very sweet!
I love your description of the goslings: "three little glowing balls", and I am happy that you called them Canada Geese-
I am often correcting people because they say Canadia"n" Geese. Not that the geese care, but still--
I have looked at several of your posts, and you take beautiful pictures and New England is just lovely!
I am off to look at your other blog, too!
So nice to meet you from VTT!
~Leslie