It really doesn’t make much difference whether you’re a human dad or a Canada Goose dad … there are similar dilemmas, exasperating or even cringe-worthy moments. If you’re a dad, yep … I can see you shaking your head in agreement.
But … wait a minute. The way I see it, unless you are blessed with multiple offspring at birth, Papa Goose has it far worse than you ever did. Imagine dealing with a lot of ornery offspring at the same time.
The father figure always protects his young’uns.
It was a bright-and-sunny morning in late May at Council Point Park. As I rounded the bend, through the bushes and trees, I noticed there were two Canada Geese families grazing and resting on the grassy slope near the cement ledge. We usually have three or four families that make their debut in early May – at this point there had been only one sighting for Spring 2021 and that family was paddling down the Ecorse Creek. Among the walkers we thought this lack of youngsters was unusual – where were all the proud parents parading their goslings down the perimeter path? Even though we deal with goose histrionics, including that bright-pink tongue wagging and hissing, a whole lot of wing flapping and copious amounts of goose poop, in general, we walkers love to ooh and aah over those fuzzy, lemon-colored babies once they arrive.
But I digressed … back to the loosy goosies.
I slowly unzipped the camera case, then crept behind a bush for a good glimpse of the goslings.
See how he’s checking me out?
How dare this human intruder stand 20 feet from them?
He turned around and resumed watching over his “flock” –
Whew I must’ve passed muster. Good to know. 🙂
The Guardian of the Goslings was still wary of me.
His head swiveled over once again as if questioning my motive for being there.
He herded the gang of geese and goslings to the Creek.
He figured the Mallards were less bothersome than me.
er … feathery butts.
They returned to the perimeter path.
I was mindful to stay socially distant from the guardian gander.
They dodged me (or so they thought).
They grow up so quickly!
Where do the years weeks go anyway?
It seemed like just yesterday they were a precious ball of fluff.
Cuz, after all who’s in charge anyway?
eager to escape Mom and Dad.
(they don’t come home to do their laundry).
Happy Father’s Day from the geese and goslings at Council Point Park and me!
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Goslings are such a sight I always enjoy watching them.
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Perfectly wonderful. I just want nuzzle all that fluffy goodness! Have a good week. Kim
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I know what you mean – so sweet, soft and fluffy and completely devoid of attitude (give them a few more weeks). Back at you Kim!
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Me too Andy – so little and perfect. I got some duckling shots a few weeks ago. They were very young and paddling around while Mom sat snoozing with one eye open nearby.
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Me too Andy – so little and perfect. I got some duckling shots a few weeks ago. They were very young and paddling around while Mom sat snoozing with one eye open nearby.
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Linda, this was a wonderful Father’s Day post! I love the captions in the photos, the stage photos of Ganders with their young ones, and the various sentiments you expressed. Like I mentioned before, setting up your post with matching photos must be very time consuming. Thank you for doing that!
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Glad you liked it Esther. I saw that family and knew it would be my Father’s Day post and then WordPress had an issue with captions a couple of weeks ago so I was glad they figured out the problem so I could use that feature. You are right – it does take a lot of time from start to finish. You’re welcome and thank you for saying that.
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I’m glad you solved the captions issue. When something goes awry on WP, prepare to spend a few hours fixing it. Once you figure out the solution you wonder why it took so long. That’s what happens to me.
My goodness, you are having some tech issues lately starting with your work computer crash and the captions. Whew…hope it’s a technology problem free summer and beyond.
You’re welcome! Just wanted to let you know that it’s appreciated and noticed.
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I’m glad the captions are back too Esther. A couple of years ago, WordPress changed the slideshows to gallery style. I only used used slideshows a few times, but captions I do like to use when I do a post like this. I couldn’t create them in media either. I just load pics right from my computer to the post, but tried it that way – nothing. Yes, it has been my time for tech issues. It humbles us since we are so dependent on computers. Grrr. Thanks I do appreciate it as I put a lot of time into the posts. In contrast, tomorrow’s post was easy … some chalk art I saw on the way home from the Park.
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Delightful!
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Glad you enjoyed it Anne!
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Yes that was most definitely a defiant stare. The goslings are cute and remind of the old saying about ‘the duck’s waddle.’ But of course in this case it’d be the goose’s waddle. Obviously.
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The ganders have perfected that icy stare Ally. The geese families kept to themselves this year. I can remember times when the gander(s) would challenge the walkers to dare to walk on the perimeter path. We always yield to them and go onto the grass rather than risk them going into a rage which I’ve seen before. They move pretty quickly, waddling the way they do. 🙂
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The portrait of the little gosling in the grass is priceless, worth all the charming of his father you had to do to get it! Well done, Linda! Fatherhood is a big responsibility and the Canada geese take it very seriously.
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Thanks Barbara. Canada geese are fiercely loyal to their mates and very protective of their offspring. It is a delight to watch them interacting with one another. The parents steer them in one direction and one or two will escape and run the other way. This gosling separated himself and plopped down in the grass giving me a perfect pose. The other goslings were on the edge of that slope in a huddle.
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I love animal families!
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Me too Kate!
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Aw, Linda, such a clever Father’s Day post. Great photos, you always catch such fun expressions! You’re right the goslings grow so fast.
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Thank you Shelley – glad you liked it. We didn’t have the usual geese/gosling activity and I kind of missed sharing the path with them (along with their attitudes). They have already left the Park to go to the River while their new feathers come in fully and they are able to fly again.
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The birds have even felt the weirdness of the past year. Hopefully next Spring will be better!
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Yes I hope so … I think the erratic weather is here to stay and that makes me a little sad. All this time you’re working and can’t be outside enjoying yourself and now we’re saddled with weather that you can no longer count on as it’s so changeable.
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Weather keeps us on our toes! 🙂 And walking too!
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Love how the four adults form a perfect safety rectangle around their little ones. It’d be tough to escape their 360-degree view, let alone break through the barrier they seem to form.
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I always admire the parents’ devotion to the goslings. You’re right Dave … they are stationed like sentries. The one huddle of goslings was close to the edge near the Creek … one adult was monitoring that pretty closely.
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beautiful post and many thanks to Linda and the beautiful geese and goslings at Council Point Park
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Glad you liked the post Yvette – I thought I’d add some humor as well as devotion of these Canada Geese.
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🙂 well done with humor and beauty of these gems
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Thanks Yvette – I have another funny post about critters I was thinking I’d get written tonight but we have some ugly weather out there and I keep flipping to Accuweather or my trusty two meteorologists on Twitter to keep apprised of what’s going on and am distracted as I’m a weather worrier. We are told to prepare for a possible tornado, now 70 mph winds (originally 60 mph winds) and ping-pong sized hail and that’s still on the way. What a way to welcome Summer (though it feels like it’s been here forever).
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yikes – hope those two elements pass you all by!
and it has felt like summer for a while – I agree
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Thank you Yvette. We got a good amount of rain which is good – SE Michigan is in moderate drought conditions. I think round 1 is dying down finally … I’m thinking to stay up and alert for the more severe round. I’m hoping it fizzles out then I’ll shut down.
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hope it fizzles out too –
and so nice to catch you online before you shut down – and I am off to sleep in about an hour –
we did house projects this weekend and misc stuff – it was fun but also glad to be done – it was a bit like spring cleaning and we painted a closet that needed it
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Yes it is nice to chat in near real time isn’t it? I have a small painting project that never got done last year as it was always hot and humid. I’ll likely wait ’til Fall now.
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yes- waiting until fall might be a good idea. We want to do stuff fin the attic and it will either be fall or some “extra cool” day this summer – but likely fall.
–
and side note – I feel a little ebad doing this – but I am sending one of the last two afghans to the thrift store – the hubs grandmother gave us a few and none of the children want them and I don’t – and cannot see theme sitting in the attic anymore – so maybe someone will use this one
there is one more left that I will hang on to a little longer – but one of them is bagged and ready to go –
sigh – but it still is a little tough to release –
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Our Memorial Day weekend was coolish – it was wonderful for working out in the yard. I didn’t want to have too many things going on. But I said that last year and then it was too cool at night. The weather is just too temperamental. Someone will scoop the afghans up and be grateful for their warmth and how they brighten up a room.
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thanks for saying that about the afghans – I think you are right – there are folks that like them and appreciate their value
— okay – singing off now – so happy to be in real time chatting and wishing you a nice start to the week
😊
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I know you are feeling badly as it is a handmade gift. Good night Yvette. I’m staying a while longer. Meteorologist says stay alert in my area and it is raining again. You too and looks like it just rolled over to Summer officially … now we creep toward Winter.
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the funny thing is that winter will be here before we realize it – lol
and in two weeks this year will be half over – that is crazy because the year has gone fast
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And then Yours Truly will complain about the snow and ice. The cold I can dress for, but I hate the snow and ice and I worry about these Polar Vortex events and if the power goes out and I get cracked pipes. This year has gone by fast … I agree with you.
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🙂
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Great post Linda! I see you got the captions to work!
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Thanks Joni – glad you like it. Yes, got them to work the same way we always did. I wonder if people asked them to reinstate the captions? I was glad for that as I wanted to use captions for this post. We are having severe weather right now … 1 of 2 (possibly 3) storms and the second one after midnight could involve a tornado. I don’t know whether to stay up or rely on the weather radio which has gone off three times already.
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Go to bed and get some sleep! I am too….my eyes are burning from reading outside tonight. Hope the tornado dissipates.
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I think the alarm will go off … it’s warm as I shut the A/C off an hour ago. We lost power, but just momentarily about 1/2 hour ago. I hope so too.
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We had lots of rain and a thunderstorm around midnight, which is good as the farmers needed the rain, plus I wont have to water.
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That’s good Joni – everyone needed it, especially the poor farmers for their crops. We had 1 1/2 inches of rain here in my part of town and it was a good soaking rain that came over several thunderstorms and many hours’ time. I ended up staying up until 1:15 a.m. I wanted to ensure I was alert in case of a tornado. One touched down two hours from me (F-1 tornado). I have the weather radio, but was worried I would not awake after the alarm sounded in time to get downstairs. So I stayed up. It was in the 40s when I got up this morning, but great walking weather. Hope you got out as well.
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Did you see the forecast for the next week – rain EVERY day and back up to those hot humid 90’s….ugh.
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I know – I can’t “like” that comment and they said we are getting 1-3 inches of rain from Thursday night through Sunday night. I’ve enjoyed walking the last two mornings. Drove to the River yesterday to two riverside parks and to Heritage Park and walked there this morning since it’s going to rain. The two meteorologists I follow said that after Sunday our moderate drought can be considered over.
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I think the dad geese have it much better than our human dad’s. Why you ask? Because these kids fly the coup a whole lot sooner…lol
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Ha ha – well, you have a point there Diane!
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I love how they stick together as a unit, family even when multiple goslings get together and all the geese protect the young. I don’t know if they know who’s is who’s by then.
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Me too Sandra – they are all considered one big family I guess. I can’t imagine how the parents tell them apart, especially when we usually have four families, most born around the same time. As to these two families, there was probably two weeks’ difference in goslings’ ages here. The older goslings already had sleeker bodies and were more gray colored.
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We have very bold geese dads here in Lancaster, Linda. They cross the street with their brood across four lanes of traffic and everyone stops for them!
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That would be a cute sight to see Pam. I have seen them do that at the Park a handful of times, but not out in the street. They mostly block our paths.. We have been having wild turkeys, a few of them who take over a busy intersection and then have to be removed by police officers. This is in a little more rural area than where I live, but still … people whip out their smartphones of the turkeys acting up, then toeing the line. 🙂
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We also have a wild turkey that walks across our yard!!
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Pam – that turkey is taking a chance with your pets around! I had to come back here and see if I mentioned my opossum to you the other day and I did not. We had some severe weather here on Sunday. We had three storms that evening and there was a tornado warning. I was on pins and needles and stayed up until 1:15 a.m. to be awake to bolt downstairs if necessary, even though I have a weather radio. Monday morning I went out to check the backyard for damage and wanted to check the A/C grille before turning it on. There was a huge possum in the yard. We looked at one another – I was taken aback, a first for me in 55 years in this house! She/he poked around in the mulch and then ambled off. I drive to big parks to see wildlife and could just walk into the backyard – who knew?
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First – a weather radio!?!
Second – that was like “Close Encounters”!💕💗❤️♥️
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I follow a meteorologist on Twitter (Paul Gross) and he’s an admitted science nerd, plus he participates in a lot of international forums on climate change. He tries to persuade all his followers to get the news station’s weather app on their smartphones AND to get a Midland weather radio. I don’t have a smartphone, but he Tweets up-to-the-minute reports on severe weather and so I follow him and can see what’s going on. The radio went off there times that evening. It is pretty simple to program and you tailor it to your county. I’m a weather worrier, so it’s a good thing! Yes “Close Encounters” and I’m going to mention it in a post next week I think. Part of me wanted to dash in the house and grab the camera and also assign him a name like I do for the squirrels around the house and at the Park, but all I did was stand there transfixed … it was huge and I have a small yard!
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Sometimes being in the moment is more important than capturing it for posterity, Linda. 🥰
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That’s so true Pam, but I won’t deny that the past two mornings when I left on my walk, I meandered to the backyard, camera in hand, just in case I saw it again. 🙂
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😘
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This is the model of weather radio recommended by Paul Gross (whom I referenced in my last comment). I ordered it from Amazon:
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You are hilarious! 🙌👏🤜🤛
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What a great ode to dads everywhere! I loved how you matched your words with your pictures.
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Thanks Janis … I thought I’d do something fun for Father’s Day after I spotted these two families by the Creek. Glad you liked it.
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Add “Goose Whisperer” to your list of talents! I can’t believe you were able to calm the Daddy goose down. I would have run the other way and probably wound up being chased by an enraged male goose!
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Ha ha – I was able to calm him down. The look he gave me as I approached (and I was not close to them, I used the camera to zoom in on the family) – if looks could kill. I don’t tangle with geese either. Many years ago I took a bag of crumbed up bread to Council Point Park with me. I tossed it down and the problem was that there was not enough for another group of geese who saw there was food and wanted some. They all came after me and I slipped into a group of ladies walking together (“don’t mind me please!”) and they lost my trail – whew!
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Oh these goslings are adorable! Wonderful pictures, Linda! I usually keep my distance from Canada geese since they aren’t always friendly. What a fun sighting!
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They are rambunctious when with their goslings and their brethren Sabine. I once had a group of them chase me when I had taken some bread and didn’t have enough for all of them … first and last time to feed the geese. What was I thinking?
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