Stephen Barnard sent a holiday-themed picture from Idaho:
Deets and I accidentally spooked a Canada Goose [Branta canadensis] off this nest. I took a quick photo and moved on. I’m surprised they can nest successfully on the ground with all the predators around. Seemed appropriate for Easter.
Exactly, The raccoon, the snakes, almost everything is against them, yet some make it.
Avoidance of nest predators leads some geese to nest in quite astonishing places. Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) nest on high vertical cliffs which keeps them away from Arctic Foxes but leaves the chicks with an awesome leap when they leave the nest (in some cases only to get gobbled up immediately on landing). This was filmed recently by the BBC http://tinyurl.com/ovs26wv
Red-breasted Geese (Branta ruficollis) often nest in association with predatory birds such as Peregrine Falcons which again provides a measure of protection from other predators.
Beautiful clutch of eggs.
Sorry, Stephen…but, though your photography is typically top notch, today you just came up with a bunch of big, fat goose eggs.
…sorry…couldn’t resist…had no choice….
b&
Wow, seven eggs, that’s one busy goose. Great photo, give Deets a cuddle for me, he’s such a lovely d*g.
I enjoy the little ones swimming along behind mama. Keep plenty of fresh film handy. 😎
Don’t let the goslings see you first when they hatch! 😉
I’ve seen them nest by the side of freeway off-ramps up here, and then the goslings follow mama right across the road.
Well, that certainly answers that particular question….
b&
😀
And sub
There have been a lot of Canadian geese hanging around Jacksonville, Florida, all year round. A few times I’ve seen a flock of 12 or so, including some goslings, waddling across or down streets and through parking lots. Maybe they’ve gotten work visas so they don’t have to go back to Canada in the spring.
Um, Fred, they are Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese, which distiction I was unaware of until moving up to Canuckland:-)
Ah, I’d never heard that distinction before, Merilee.
Hmm, and I suppose if they don’t go back and take the citizenship test they’ll become America Geese, or would the Canadians call them Yankee Geese?
Yankee Geese has more of a ring to it;-) -although most head to the southern parts of the U.S….Rebel Geese?
Or Yankee Invader Geese who just won’t go back home in the north. Me,I invaded from California, although my parents were from Texas.
I sort of invaded Canada from California. Which part are you from?
I was born in Long Beach but have also lived in Treasure Island, San Francisco; Lemoore (a small town with a big Naval Air Station about 40 miles south of Fresno), from where I graduated high school; and then Mountain View, Santa Clara and San Jose, all before I moved to Florida in 1990, joining the Navy in ’91 and being stationed in Crete, Greece, and Groton, Connecticut, before returning to Florida in ’99. I’ve also lived in Yokuska, Japan; Salt Lake City; Primbrook, Massachusetts; and Mineola, Texas.
Seeing as you’ve been almost every place on the planet, I’d like to know which had the best all around climate? I am tired of shoveling snow in winter and would like to find a refuge for retirement.
If they were Canadian Geese, then while they were in the States they would be alien Geese. At least, that’s what bipedal Canadian tourists are classified as. I always wonder, greys or greens?
There is a story (myth?) about a family emigrating across the Can-Us border (I forget which way) that had a pet Canada Goose with them. The border official told them they weren’t allowed to transport wild birds into the country. After querying him about all the other migratory birds, his reply was that the difference was that they were crossing the border on their own. The owner threw the bird into the air in the intended direction of travel and they all watched as it flew only a short distance and landed. Problem solved.
Great story🐔