This is part two of my trip to BASF Waterfront Park last Saturday.
It’s a short and sweet post about the various families of Canada Geese I saw on my morning stroll. The geese and goslings were the highlight of the morning. There were four different families, with goslings in different stages of development, from tiny fuzzballs, to those with adult plumage and they looked big enough to fledge.
The parents seemed a bit skittish, likely from all the boaters invading their domain, so the geese were mostly on land or hugging the rocky shoreline when the whole family ventured into the water. I was in a primo spot, standing on one of the overlooks, so I could see the families paddling right beneath where I was standing. The header image shows the almost full-grown goslings. It looks like they’ve been in the mud or taken a dust bath, but it is just their adult plumage coming in while some yellow fuzz still remains. I thought it was an interesting picture so I used it up top.
You don’t realize the progression of growth in these feathered babies until you see the various sizes on display here (in no particular order).
Smooth sailing … well, maybe not so much.
There was a small traffic jam on the River with boats and geese galore!
With so many motorboats, the smallest goslings were having a tough time keeping up with Mom and Pop, staying upright and not tilting over from the size of the waves. A couple of times I held my breath, afraid the wee ones would be sent crashing into the boulders, but they hung on and probably just got a little seasick from the waves.
Note to Mom and Pop … pack a little Dramamine next time! 🙂
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I never thought about how waves affect small swimming creatures. Daredevils and thrill-seekers might have enjoyed their outing.
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Anne – Yes, I had my heart in my mouth a few times and wanted to tell them to steer clear from those big boulders that are all long the shoreline at this park. I had a vantage point of standing on the overlook, so I could see them from above, so maybe at their level it was easier? I enjoyed watching them paddling hard to keep up, then shared their pain with each rolling wave from the big motorboats.
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It was an exciting walk!
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Wonderful photos Linda, I love the one with the Mom and Pop swimming and the babies all in between them. Good thing they stay close to the land with all the traffic on the water.
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That was my favorite shot too Sandra. I like how protective the parents are of their goslings, even when they almost fully grown. I have seen the goslings at different stages of growth at Council Point Park, especially last year when we had three or maybe four families and you’d see them on a daily basis – it was amazing to see the different sizes. But to see them all in one morning, all these different sizes, I had to make one post, just to show it. I noticed the parents did not herd their youngsters past that overlook where there was so much boat traffic … I bet the geese like the weekdays when there is less traffic on the River.
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Enjoyed reading and watching The geese family.
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Hi Bindya – I thought you might enjoy this post since you are a bird lover.
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Yes I did enjoy the post Linda.Thanks for sharing
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You’re welcome Bindya – except for a Father’s Day post, this is likely the last of the gosling photos in my blog unless they open up Council Point Park again. I put a few gosling photos aside to use just in case.
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There’s time for Father’s Day,hope the park will open soon Linda 🙂
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I hope so too Bindya – hopefully the COVID-19 cases/deaths go down and things can get back to normal again.
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Yes Linda, optimism does help sometimes!
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Those goose families stay together for quite a while, don’t they? I didn’t realize the Momma and Poppa ducks stayed with their babies until they were full-sized. I enjoyed seeing the goslings at different stages. Some were still yellow and fuzzy and some looked almost like adults.
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Laurie – The goslings stay with their parents for about a year then go off to with other flocks. After about 10-12 weeks after birth they are ready to fledge. Usually by around Father’s Day the geese at Council Point Park are big enough to fly and head out with their parents, then we don’t see any geese until after Labor Day. The DNR sprays the grass with that grape substance so they don’t graze there, but also the parents lose their flight feathers so must stick close to water to escape predators by swimming, not flying away. Our Creek at the Park is not that big, so I will see them at bigger parks, hanging out at the shoreline (they have a lot of shoreline to hang out these days since the water has encroached bigtime on all the waterfront parks). I know it happens around Father’s Day as I usually have photos of the nearly grown geese and parents I use for a Father’s Day post. This pic up top tells me these geese had an early start since they look fully grown. 🙂
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I like the photo of the little goslings between their parents. Who knew it was so difficult to be a sweet little baby birdie in the big bad bay!
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That was my favorite too Ally. Those were the smallest goslings and no bigger than your hand. All that motorboat traffic was making some big waves – the four of them were listing to one side with each big wave.
I guess a gosling’s life is tougher than we thought … it’s not just napping and nibbling grass! 🙂
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Oh my, so so many… I love seeing them a lil grown up. Some reason there are always 4 geese with the babies in my park – wonder if they’re 2 families.
💕💕💕💕💕
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It could be two families – one family had a lot of goslings so maybe that is what it was – maybe the added adults are like a nanny?
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Haha. Totally!
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Linda, I’m amazed how obedient they are even when they’re teenagers!
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Ha ha – yes, they stay in the queue or near their parents, even those that are as big as the parents. I was amazed that one group was so large and had almost all their plumage in … they started their family really early!
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That must have been so fun to watch! Beautiful pictures.
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Thank you – glad you liked them. I love watching the goslings in the Spring. The Park where I usually walk (which is closed right now due to Coronavirus … all our City’s 22 parks have been closed since May 1st), every year it is a real treat to watch them grow up. The smallest goslings in this post had a tough time swimming straight – my pictures did not capture them listing to the side and paddling furiously. I wanted to pluck them out of the water and keep them out of danger! The parents would have likely gone ballistic though. 🙂
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It’s so hard to let them do their thing sometimes! That’s awesome though. They’re all still living as they were, while the humans have had our world turned upside down!
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You certainly are right about that – nature goes on too … Spring babies make their debut, perennials come up,the good ol’ dandelions have come and are on their last leg – for them nothing is different.
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It’s amazing how quickly they grow up! Amazing also is that nature has instilled in them the instinct that tells the parents when to let go of their kids and force them to be on their own… unlike many humans 🙂
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Yes, I liked spotlighting the different families Janis so people could see how much they grow and change in a few short weeks – after a year, they are on their own and leave their parents … they take the hint better than humans it seems!
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Miss Linda……………………..thank you for sharing your pictures of the baby goslings…………..a lot of us won’t be able to see first hand what they look like swimming in the river or a pond……………….by the way………………one of our ducks by our apartment pond………….. did have 2 baby ducklings……………………one was always swimming alone………………….then a few days later there was only one little duckling by its mom………….and she stays very close to her all the time…………………………….Oh and guess what?………………I saw Harry the Heron’s brother try to get at the little baby duckling swimming alongside of its mom a few days ago……………………..that I was surprised at I thought that the herons only ate fish and not little ducklings………………………did you get what I said about Harry the Heron’s brother???…………………..your Harry could have a brother………………….
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Oh Ann Marie – You’re welcome – glad you enjoying seeing these different sizes of goslings – there were lots of them. I am happy you got to see ducklings. I wanted to see some every year – no luck yet. But I am sorry to hear one of the ducklings is now gone. That makes me sad. I am just as surprised as you that Harry the Heron’s brother would have tried to eat a duckling and why it would try to nab it when it was swimming so close to its mother I wonder? That’s really sad. My pal Harry the Heron may have flown over to your pond – he is hoping you’ll take photos of him with your phone as he doesn’t know what happened to me these three weeks and has decided maybe he liked all that extra attention he got after all. 🙂
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boy have they have grown! Great shots Linda!
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It is amazing to watch how quickly they grow – eating all that grass gives great growth spurts! Thank you Wayne – I had a perfect place to stand on the overlook, so I had a different view than normal, looking at them from above not straight on. It was so wavy, I tried my best to capture shots of the smallest goslings as they struggled to stay afloat and not list to the side – in the last three photos, a large wave had just rolled in and even the parents were tilting a little.
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your becoming a great wildlife photographer Linda!
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Thank you Wayne – that made my day!!
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Lovely photos of the goose family! It’s always fun to see the little ones.
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Thanks Rebecca – there were so many families and all different sizes. It was fun watching them along the Detroit River and marveling at the tiniest goslings riding the waves.
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spring has finally sprung for you and your flock, Linda! xo
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Yes Pam – geese and goslings were everywhere that morning. It was a sight to see them in such close proximity.
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😍👏👍
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