Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Linda Schaub
FIFTY FAVORITE PARK PHOTOS
-
- Parker noshin’ nuts
-
- Fox Squirrel
-
- Black Squirrel
-
- Parker, my Park cutie!
-
- Pekin Duck
-
- Mallard Hybrid Duck
-
- Midnight munchin’ nuts
-
- Mute Swan
-
- Goslings
-
- Mama Robin
-
- Seagulls on ice floe
-
- Great Blue Heron
-
- Parker chowin’ down
-
- Mallard Duck
-
- Northern Cardinal
-
- Great Blue Heron (“Harry”) fishing for shad
-
- Parker: shameless begging
-
- Viceroy Butterfly
-
- Great Blue Heron
-
- American Goldfinch
-
- Seagull
-
- Robin baby (not fledged yet)
-
- Mallard Ducks
-
- Robins almost ready to fledge
-
- Parker angling for peanuts
-
- Robin fledgling
-
- Parker making a point that he wants peanuts
-
- Parker smells peanuts
-
- Parker with a peanut
-
- Red-Winged Blackbird
-
- Seagull
-
- Red-Bellied Woodpecker
-
- Pekin Duck
-
- Starling
-
- Canada Geese family
-
- Canada Goose and goslings
-
- Red-Winged Blackbird
-
- Parker says candy is dandy.
-
- Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
-
- American Goldfinch
-
- Hunny Bunny
-
- Parker looking for peanuts
-
- The pier just past sunrise
-
- Mute Swan
-
- Parker in the snow
-
- Parker and a treat
-
- Great Blue Heron
-
- Me and my shadow (a/k/a Parker)
-
- Fox Squirrel
-
- Seagull
-
- Canada Goose
-
- Mallard Ducks
-
- Mute Swan
-
- Fox Squirrel – Parker
-
- Northern Cardinal
-
BADGES
-
- 02-02-2018
-
- 03-13-2018
-
- 03-25-2018
-
- 03-26-2018
-
- Year #6!! 02/2019
-
- 04-13-2019
-
- 11-21-19
-
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
That first picture is a cool optical illusion. Did you intend that?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked it Zazzy! Purely accidental for that angle which looks like her head is rising out of the rocks. As I approached Mama from the opposite side and looked at the pictures later, I thought she almost doesn’t look real. I think this is the same goose I saw sitting on a nest in the same location last year. I wrote a funny post about her sitting there while her (likely) mate was cavorting in the water with another goose. She gave him a look and he hurried up to see her. 🙂 I had a similar picture of it, but this is a much clearer shot. Gotta love critters because as an “outsider” I can interpret their actions sometimes … either that or I have a wild imagination. Here is last year’s post I referenced and I would have included it but it is Wordless Wednesday.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like a healthy imagination and can happily follow along with your little geese soap opera! Also, I was wondering and you answered my question about what was normal for the geese. Good goose daddy! But what an odd place she chose to make her nest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A little imagination never hurt a soul Zazzy – we need more laughs these days. Yes, geese are devoted to their mates for life, as are swans, unlike ducks who only have seasonal mates. (Hmm.) Like you, I can’t imagine why she would make a nest there because it would be uncomfortable, but I guess she figures no humans would be climbing around on the rocks so she and her eggs/goslings are safe. I took the photos from the walking path.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful bird. It is interesting to watch the dedication of birds trying to hatch and raise their young.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know Peggy – it is beautiful to watch. I think Canada Geese are striking looking … sweet little goslings, then they have that awkward stage of all feet and canoe-shaped bodies, then their eventual beautiful markings/plumage. I have watched Mama birds of all sizes fiercely defending their eggs and their young, from Robins when Red-winged Blackbirds threaten and geese when they fear humans or a hawk cruising overhead. Mother Nature at her finest. I’m on here double-checking the weather before venturing out – your comment tells me you are safe from the storms in your neck of the woods too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Baby birds are adorable – can’t wait to capture some up at the lake. Have a good day. Let’s hope the world stays calm today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, they are Peggy. Baby birds give us something to smile about in our world – a quieter day today thankfully.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your photos definitely tell the story
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Ellie – glad to hear from you!
LikeLike
Beautiful photos once again. How you manage to take them astounds me, but I am glad you share them here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Ally – I am lucky sometimes to be at the right time and place. In this instance I was at this park briefly and got the seagull strutting, this goose sitting on her nest and some funny shots of a goose that is so fat, she looks like if you stuck a pin in her, she’d burst!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They have asked the public in Stanley Park (Vancouver) to help locate Canada Geese nests. It appears they then take the eggs and substitute them with artificial ones so as to help control the population growth.
LikeLike
Hmm. Are you okay with that Wayne? That’s cruel in my opinion. Why not do what they do here and use the grape juice spray on the grass as a deterrent to keep them from grazing there? The geese don’t like the taste and it won’t hurt them in the least, but they’ll move on. Do they incubate the eggs artificially somewhere else (that’s less populated with geese)?
My friend Ann Marie lives in a big apartment complex and in the center of that complex is a huge pond. They have resident ducks and geese until Winter when it ices up. They also have the occasional heron or swan stop by. So one pair of Canada Geese made a nest near the pond every year – the female sat on the nest; the male hovered nearby and there are walkways to the individual apartment buildings. Ann Marie is a walker and passed the pair on her daily walks. The gander would hiss and flap at her, so she moved out of the way. Others did not like it, complained and last year or maybe the year before, Ann Marie returned from walking to find the pair of geese on a rooftop honking their heads off – someone (presumably a caretaker) had removed the nest and eggs. I don’t know if they had to move the female to do this as they sit continuously on the nest during incubation. I thought that was heartless to do that and Ann Marie felt the same way about it.
LikeLike
Good question? To stop them getting out of control they need to be managed unfortunately. I agree this seems cruel but they are not harmed and can continue to live there. Some want a cull.
I do not know If they are aware of your grape juice method but that is a separate issue isn’t it. One issue is to control their numbers and the other issue is herding them into areas where humans do not go.
You should contact them about what your district does and maybe they would pay attention?
https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/park-board-seeks-publics-help-to-keep-canada-goose-population-in-check.aspx
LikeLike
Wayne – I read the article and just e-mailed them to tell them about the grape seed extract. I hope it helps … the egg replacement sounds cruel because the geese are not stupid and while I don’t know if they mourned the loss of the eggs, Ann Marie told me that the pair of geese at her apartment complex went on for days with the honking from on top of one of the apartment roofs, so it isn’t like they just forgot about it. The egg swiping would be better than a cull. I follow an animal rehab site (for babies and adult wildlife) on Facebook (Nottingham Nature Nook) and she has rescued fawn/deer and subsequently turned them loose when rehabbed fully. She wrote heartbreaking posts when the nearby wooded area where they were released was an area where sharpshooters were out many nights in a row to cull herds of deer who were causing so many deer/vehicle crashes. It was sad reading her posts. So, hopefully they will take this under consideration. I’ll let you know if I hear back!
LikeLiked by 1 person
GREAT! Go Team! Very happy you sent them what has been working in your region!
I understand people getting upset about stepping in Geese droppings. It’s happened to me but I’ve also stepped in Dog crap! You don’t hear me saying all dogs should be gotten rid of!
I watch where I step, but I guess that’s too hard for people with low IQ’s?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha – yes, people walk their dogs on the path at Council Point Park and there are multiple “no animals allowed” signs and the City ordinance is posted under the sign. My park doesn’t offer dog poo bags and a metal container to drop it into, but most of the larger parks have it and lots of people don’t pick up after their dogs. I’v stepped in both types and I’m constantly stopping and doing a “poop check” especially if I drove to the Park that day. I wish the grape extract solution for the geese problem would have worked in your neck of the woods. I hate to see the geese lose their offspring by trickery and I hope they don’t resort to culling the flock with a sharpshooter either. Surely they can capture and move them somewhere else?
LikeLiked by 1 person
If they captured them and moved them elsewhere, they would only fly back. They are really good at finding their way around!
Humans are constantly trying to control Nature! When we weren’t around,Nature loved back in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, our feathered, furry and finned friends only tolerate humans. You are right – humans are always messing where they shouldn’t be messing. A few years ago the Osprey family at Lake Erie Metropark had their nest and eggs removed as they built their nest on part of the electrical wires and they were afraid the family would get electrocuted or cause a power outage. The parents watched the linemen remove the eggs, put them in a cooler for safekeeping, moved the nest to a similar-sized pole, secured the nest, put in the eggs, Osprey parents went right over to investigate. The parents never left the area and kept watching the nest the entire time the workers were handling it/eggs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes,I have heard of them doing that. More common then we think I suspect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They didn’t seem to have any complaints about how they replaced the nest or eggs … they flew right up there like nothing happened.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Holy gooses, that’s some serious camo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
She figures she blends right into the scenery Dave! I was so surprised to see the image on the screen … I thought “her head looks like a periscope in the boulders!”
LikeLike
Your stone age goose mama is very lovely! Good thing she lined the nest with something soft to cushion her from those cold, hard rocks. I can’t remember if you got pictures of her goslings last year? I was delighted to learn that Canada geese mate for life and return to the same nesting site every year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mama looks so regal with her head amongst the boulders doesn’t she Barbara? I can’t imagine that would be comfy sitting there on that bumpy surface for a month (maybe more). See, your last sentence tells me what I suspected – it was the same goose as last year! I could not imagine why this would be a popular nesting site. I believe there were a couple of sets of goslings at Heritage Park last year, so not sure which were hers. Last year it was all about the ducklings at this venue – every time I went to that park, there was another wave of ducklings. 🙂 I hope to get goslings or ducklings shots to use for Mother’s Day. There are always lots of goslings at Elizabeth Park as they have so many geese there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was just reading that shortly after the eggs hatch the mother gets the goslings into the water and meets up with other moms in a brooding area where they raise them together in a group called a crèche. That explains why we see large groups of them. Your mama does indeed look very regal!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is interesting Barbara and I didn’t know there was a term for it. At Elizabeth Park, they have a lot of geese and I went last year looking for goslings. I went over one of the smaller bridges that crosses the canal and hit pay dirt. Multiple families all together in such a brooding area and all the goslings were still quite young. So that’s like a big nursery if you think of it. I like the adult plumage of the Canada Geese with that long black neck. I’ll bet Mama does not get much sleep on those big rocks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved the colours.
It may be spring there but the colours still look wintry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice to see you Susie! It was warmish today but it still is cold – an Easter Sunday high of only 48.
LikeLike
Linda, I am very much around. I hope this May Day, the skies are bluer and the sun is shining brighter for you.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Susie – You have a lot of things going on, but I am always happy to see you. I just finished writing a too-long post about this goose and her brood that you commented on here. It will be for Mother’s Day. Unfortunately both of us have lost our mothers, you recently so grief is fresh in your heart. I often do a post about my mom, but the opportunity presented itself to do a post about this goose, so I jumped on it. Actually the day turned out better than I thought and we had a bad thunderstorm about 6:00 this morning. I am glad it is May and not March – the last two months have been ugly weather and I am still chasing after my goal. Take care Susie.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Geese make such faithful parents. Great to see your nesting photos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, they are faithful to one another and fiercely defend their mate and their young. Glad you liked the photos Laurie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great title and I agree with Zazzy, nice optical illusion! Also, no surgery for a few weeks. They called and cancelled it because after the mandatory Covid test determined I have Covid. 🤦🏽♀️
LikeLike
It was an unusual angle when I saw it on the screen, that’s for sure. You’re kidding! All this time, you’ve managed to stay Covid-free, through your daughter’s severe bout with Covid, etc. and now you have it. How do you feel? Hmm – you were getting out of cooking Easter dinner as you were having surgery, but will having Covid also work for no cooking for Easter Sunday?
LikeLike
Lots of Canada geese here too, Linda! I love the telescoping goose. I don’t know what the solution is to keeping their numbers in check. Taking the eggs away is a temporary solution. In San Francisco they feed pigeons with grain that had been “fortified” with birth control. It did reduce their numbers, but I don’t know if it could be done with geese. Regardless, I always enjoy seeing them or flying over my garden and honking!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw that goose again today Sabine – still on a nest, but stepped off it too for a few minutes. That was a surprise for me. That’s interesting for the birth control for the pigeons and what a great idea. I didn’t like the idea of taking the eggs away – that is cruel, but it is cruel if they would do a cull of the flocks as well. I wonder if I should suggest that pigeon birth control idea to the person I wrote in Vancouver. He wrote me back and said it rains too much there and would be too costly to keep re-applying it. I enjoy the geese doing flyovers and honking too. It is easy to step off the path when they have their goslings in tow and get fractious – it is not for a long period of time after all.
LikeLike
Wow – you got close to the nest, way to be brave!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did Shelley and she didn’t seem to mind me there and her mate didn’t bother me either. I went to the Botanical Gardens yesterday so stopped to see if she was still sitting on the nest – she was off the nest, so I got some more pictures … I was excited to see that and neither she nor her mate bothered me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay – that’s great news. I hope you get to see the eggs hatch too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would like that – my luck I’ll get there and the nest and empty eggs are there and Mom and the kids are MIA. I was following a duck sitting on a nest at Dingell Park. She never left the nest which was in a planter’s box about four feet off the ground and she was nestled in some hosta plants. I went down a couple of days a week hoping to see the ducklings and then went one day and it was an empty nest, cracked shells and they were all gone. I don’t know how they plopped down to the ground without harming themselves to be honest, then they had to walk over to the edge of the pavilion and plop into the River, a fairly long drop, but at least it was water and not cement.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. I remember your posts about that. I don’t know how they survived the fall either. Somehow they seem to do just fine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope she doesn’t hide somewhere with her goslings. It is pretty wide open at Heritage Park so you can see them in the man-made lake. I guess critters are more resilient than we think.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I look forward to seeing what you see as you look for her again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hope I am successful and find goslings … nothing like those cute little fluffballs to make a Spring post. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 😍
LikeLiked by 2 people
Witty post title!! Great photos.
And excuse my ignorance, but is this goose nesting?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked the title and photos Esther. It’s not ignorant at all – this goose (or another one perhaps) was nesting in the same place last year. I could tell as she was not moving and had some downy feathers around her. When I went to the Botanical Gardens on Easter Sunday, I walked over to the lake to see if Mama Goose was still nesting. Yes she was, but off the next – so I was excited to see a nest of eggs. So I took some pictures and will be using them in a few weeks – you will have to show the kids that post! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, what a sight to see a nest of eggs. That’s something you don’t get to experience often. We saw one last year with the local pond, but that one is drained now; basically a large dirt ditch.
I wonder if you’ll get to see the goslings. You had some good luck last year! I’ll show the kids.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have a pond like that too Esther. Some drain malfunction and the entire pond drained to nothing. I hope I get to see the goslings and take pictures of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful photos beautiful shot thanks for sharing 😊👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked them Priti.
LikeLike