On a recent outing, we drove to see the geese family we’ve been following. When the family wasn’t in the basin at Cavendish Grove, we relaxed and had lunch. After lunch, on the way back to the car, we noticed goose feces on the path to the upper of three ponds in the area. My husband and I followed the path and climbed the embankment to the upper pond. Geese and goslings swam there.
These geese may not have been the family we were following however. We’d need to see the feet of the gander to know if it was the same bird since the male of our family had a partial foot amputation. We couldn’t see the feet of these geese.
Two of the geese in this pond had seven goslings.
Our family had six.
In addition, there were four geese and eight goslings in another group.
Had our family joined two other adults with two goslings? This group of four adults and the eight goslings did everything together, a little gaggle.
Could our geese family be here?
I discovered subsequently that adult geese lose their large flying feathers, or molt, some weeks after the goslings are hatched. It takes them four to six weeks to grow back the feathers. During this time, they and the goslings are vulnerable to predators such as foxes and ravens. Geese adapt by congregating in groups for more security while they molt. Could the gaggle be evidence of such an occurrence?
We watched both groups of birds for several minutes and decided to return next week to see them again.
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