Well, I’m pretty sure I got your attention with that title.
Since buying my first Metropark pass in 2018, plus straying to larger park venues beyond the confines of my favorite nature nook, I’ve become more in tune about the various critters out there to discover, albeit mostly birds. I learned a lot about wildlife and nature at an early age, not necessarily at school, but because I watched TV nature programs like Wild Kingdom or the Calypso and crew’s excursions in The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. There were National Geographic TV specials and its magazine was similarly a treasure trove of information.
So, it’s been great to “meet” some of these critters up close and personal and, although I have not yet started a birding life list for my birding encounters like some of my fellow bloggers/birders keep, I figure it is not too late to start compiling that list now.
While walking in larger venues, especially Lake Erie Metropark on the shores of Lake Erie, or near its many marshes, there have been plenty of opportunities to see multiple creatures of the same type. Early on in my writings about those wanderings and wildlife sightings, I likely referred to that group of like critters as a “bunch” or a “group” but slowly I have been adding more proper terminology to my posts, even though if you’re looking at a photo of a group of geese, do you really need me to define geese paddling in the water or waddling around on land (a/k/a a “gaggle”) versus geese in the air (a/k/a a “flock” or a “skein”) – why quibble over particulars, right?
I have been striving to include proper names for the collective groups of critters, even though some of these make no sense or seem nonsensical. More on those funny names at the tail end of this post.
I started following a Metropark photographers site on Facebook to be wowed by the photographic captures of beautiful songbirds and waterfowl, along with charming critters like raccoons, or does with their fawns, although I admit I am less enamored with the snake and muskrat pics that are often posted. But I’ve gleaned a tidbit or two along the way, so the next time I show you a neat queue of sunbathing turtles on a log, I will wow you by referring to them as a “bale” of bathing beauties instead. See what I did there? Who says learning has to end when you have finished your formal education?
All that info is complicated by the fact that we all say “goose” if we see a feathered waterfowl friend, but technically a female goose is called a “goose” and the male goose is called a “gander” and Google tells me that any ol’ human eyeballing geese can’t tell the males from the females, but yes, wildlife experts can tell.
It’s nestin’ and birthin’ season around these parts.
Sure puppies and kittens are cute, but is there anything sweeter than seeing a parade of ducklings toddling after Mama Mallard, or Mama Goose surrounded by her goslings? And, even though Papa Goose may not be present and accounted for, believe me – he is nearby, on guard, to fiercely protect his little family against any predators, even you and me.
I love seeing the goslings when they are a day or two old, fuzzy little lemon drops, snoozing, or those wiggle butts running after their parents, biting the dandelion tops off, or peeking at me between the blades of grass.
Then, all too soon those goslings’ cherubic faces morph into snarly faces and they are quick to glare at me, thus daring me to step closer by mimicking their parents’ actions, i.e. flapping stubby little wings and hissing at me, though they have not quite mastered waggling that hot-pink tongue – yet.
A nod to Mother’s Day … Mama Goose is back!
If you’ve followed my blog for a while you know every Spring I head to Heritage Park to watch the progress of Mrs. Goose sitting on a nest. I’m sure she could find a comfier spot, than embedded in the boulders on the side of the park’s quaint covered bridge, but evidently she has first dibs on this spot as she was here again this year. Just like I detailed in one of my favorite posts ever, so it was the same this Spring when I discovered the Missus sitting on a nest on April 6th.
Yes, there was debris and litter around her, but she had a job to do and I don’t know how far she was into that incubation period, but altogether she would be sitting on that nest, at least 28 days, before the eggs would begin “pipping” and those goslings would hatch.
There were multiple trips to Heritage Park; the next was on April 14th, where an annoyed Mama Goose turned around and glared at me …
… while Papa Goose similarly gave me the “evil eye” so I grabbed a shot of Mama in a shadow (above) and Papa with considerable attitude (below), then left. The welcome mat sure was not rolled out for me that day.
I returned again on April 22nd and got a photo of a very sleepy Mama Goose still on the nest.
She did raise one eyelid and looked at me warily.
The next visit, on April 30th, was perfect timing on my part. Her rocky perch was abandoned …
… and I knew just where to find her as she and the goslings had a favorite memorial tree near the water the past few years.
The goslings gathered near their parents and a group of nearby geese functioned as nursemaids, ensuring those hefty winds didn’t fling the goslings down the grassy slope and into Coan Lake. I stopped to take a few photos, but knew I would return to get close-ups, weather permitting, then I would scrap the original shots.
I returned two days later, May 2nd and, just as before, the family was huddled together at the same tree with Papa Goose stationed like a sentry nearby.
It was a collective snooze-fest!
I hustled over to get a few close-ups if possible. The goslings took their cue from Mama …
… and snoozed quietly. Well, all but one of them anyway.
In the next two photos, the gosling in the forefront does NOT look comfy – check out its head!
In the next two photos, the gosling in the background is wide awake and looks at its sleeping sibling as much as to say “c’mon – let’s go eat grass or bug Mama or something!”
The many faces of goslings.
Happily I was able to get some eyes-wide-open close-ups of his offspring without raising the hackles of Papa Goose too much. These were my favorite peek-a-boo pics.
So, now that I’ve shared shots of Mama and Papa Goose and their sweet offspring, likely the first of several 2024 cutie-pie goslings you will see spotlighted in my blog, as promised, let’s have a look at a group or two. My original intent was to display the collective group names in list format, but that list went on forever. So, I went a’Googlin’ for a shorter list and this one will give you a giggle with its clever graphics. Please click here.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Challenge: Groups of Any Kind.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Lovely photos Linda 😀
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Thanks Brian – I do enjoy gosling and duckling time. Please don’t tell my squirrels I think the goslings are cute as they will never pose for me again!
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😂
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Oh my gosh, the gaggle of geese and goslings are adorable, Linda! So gaggle is their group name if their waddling, so hilarious! Those waddles can turn into a full on flap-and-run if their mad or threatened! I’ve been chased too many times myself. The babies are so sweet and your description of them trying to be upset was excellent. I wish you well on your bird list, you sure in a great location to compile it.
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They are so sweet Terri and those babies do have a lot of attitude, the older they get. I have photos at Council Point Park where they are two or three weeks old and hissed and flapped their wings at me, mimicking their parents and try to block my way on the path. 🙂 I have been chased by geese too and they see my bag of peanuts and seeds every day and try to come over for some. I stand there so the squirrels and birds can eat, with the geese nudging closer and closer to me. I do have a photo of the peanut-eating goose to use for an upcoming Wordless Wednesday post.
So I had checked on Mama Goose on Tuesday as I had errands in the area, but it was very windy so I had to go back. This is the third (maybe fourth) year I’ve followed this goose. She always nests in the rocks, always takes the family to the same memorial tree. When I wrote about her for Mother’s Day 2022, I was at Heritage Park on Easter morning, no one else was there and she didn’t see me and was off the nest, her beak moving the eggs slightly and she pulled her own downy feathers out to lay around the nest … I was awestruck to watch and photograph her doing this. So this will be my annual “Spring Thing”.
I never heard of the bird list before blogging, so I bought a Michigan birds and wildflowers book so I can I.D. birds better (rather than rely on a Google image search).
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I wonder if this mother goose knows you similar to you knowing her? Any intuition feelings about that, Linda?
Glad you found a book that will be fun for you to start keeping your count and inspiration. You are becoming into your new phase of life!
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She probably does recognize me TD – this is the third year I photographed her … my favorite time was in 2022 when she was counting her eggs and pulling out her downy feathers to let them settle on the eggs. I enjoyed seeing that.
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Sweet!
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Lovely post.
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Thank you Anne – those goslings are adorable (for another week or so anyway). 🙂
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Lovely check photos. Nice your’s birds love. Have a lot of birds list. gaggle is their group name if their waddling, so hilarious! I like birds,Linda 😄
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Glad you like the post Raj. Do you have geese in your country?
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The Greater White-fronted Goose is apparently a regular winter visitor to the northern plains, from the Indus Valley to eastern Uttar Pradesh, with scattered records elsewhere.
The bar-headed goose migrates over the Himalayas to spend the winter in parts of South Asia (from Assam to as far south as Tamil Nadu. The modern winter habitat of the species is cultivated fields, where it feeds on barley, rice and wheat, and may damage crops.
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Thanks for that info Raj – in your region maybe sometime you will see goslings then? I hope so!
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Thank you so much,Linda.
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Wonderful captures of mother goose and her goslings! A delightful photo essay. 🙂
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Thank you Debbie D – they are so cute and I look forward to seeing these sweet goslings every year. I am glad you enjoyed this post.
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Linda, you missed a dangerous situation here. Some how that goose has gotten ahold of a bunch of fishing line. That stuff can tangle and strangle the adults and the chicks.
You need to grab that stuff ASAP.
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Wayne – Wow, I didn’t realize that was fishing line – oh my goodness! There was so much litter around her. In fact, I took a photo to show how much litter was near where she was nesting and didn’t use it in the end and used this one instead. There is still something, a drink cup I think, behind the dead evergreen branch right behind her. I don’t get too close to her as her mate is always nearby (except the time she was off the nest in 2022 – he was not around). On this visit, her mate was in the water and he had an eye on me the entire time I was there.
As to the fishing line, it was finally gone the 22nd of April and it likely blew away. We have had some very windy days – anymore it seems like every day is windy. Today was terribly windy, yet they did not call for it and walking along the shoreline I had to brace myself a few times.
They do allow fishing at Coan Lake and fish is stocked here, but it is catch-and-release fishing only. The heron gets a good share of those fish.
The duck rescue charity I follow on Facebook and donate to them once a year as they are a small non-profit run by Matt and his wife Teresa, have volunteers (as well as Matt and Teresa) – they all go out to rescue geese that have had their feet amputated due to fishing line cutting off the circulation.
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Ah great photos ! I love the little ones, they are always so sweet.
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Thank you Susan – glad you liked them! They look so fluffy looking and especially cute when they are snoozing or peeking between the grass blades at me.
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There is nothing as soothing as pictures of babies, any babies!
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I agree Kate – those sweet faces, all snuggled together are the best! Another few weeks and it will be duckling time.
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They’re cute, cute. I know that adult geese can be aggressive but when they’re goslings, they look sweet.
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I can’t help myself Ally – I have to take their pictures as they are so sweet. I was at a different venue today and saw another family, but those goslings were a little older, more gray than yellow and had a little bit of attitude going on as well. 🙂
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A fun and catchy title indeed! I really enjoyed seeing all the many faces of the little goslings. 🙂
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Thanks Rebecca – I have wanted to do a post mentioning all the oddball names for groups of animals and birds and/or their offspring, which are also odd names sometimes. These sweet little goslings gave me a chance to do so. I was out today and saw another family at another venue. They were a wee bit older, starting to lose the yellow in favor of a gray tone, but still cute.
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Oh my goodness, the goslings are adorable!
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They sure are Linda and they look like you could pick them up and cuddle them, but that wouldn’t last long!
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Ohhhhh, I just want to touch them to feel their fuzzy wazzy! And that photo of the red (school?) house on the lake is so romantically picturesque!!!
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Yes, I feel like I want to do that too TD – they are all so sweet and innocent looking aren’t they? Yes, it is the little red schoolhouse, my favorite building in the historical section of this park. That schoolhouse makes wonderful reflections on Coan Lake and is very picturesque.
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Sweet shots, Linda. Coming home on a recent evening we were treated to a ton turkey strutting his stuff for a pair of seemingly unimpressed females. (And what do we call a female turkey, pray tell? A hen, I suppose?)
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Thanks Eilene – I can’t resist them when they’re this age. A waste of tail feathers on the unimpressed females must have been funny to see. Like you, I assumed a female turkey was a hen, so I looked and yes it is a hen EXCEPT if it is a juvenile female. Then it is a jenny. Where do they get these names?
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Oh my, these pictures of the goslings are so sweet! I’m surprised papa gander let you get so close! I remember that post when you captured mama goose so lovingly tending to her eggs. In this post I love the expressions you captured on mama’s face, and the little gosling wishing its sleepy sibling awake. So precious. Looking forward to seeing your next bale of baby turtles and I learned from that collective noun list that I have a parcel of deer in my neighborhood. 😉
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I’m glad you liked them Barbara! They are so cute at this age and I was lucky they were settled in around that tree and the memorial stone and sleepy from the sun, so Papa Goose was the only one who was standing like a sentry and watching his family. Yes Papa was there, but he was facing toward Coan Lake! Mama did give me a look when I was there one time and Papa was across the walk on the boulders over on that side, so he also gave me a steely glare. I do think she may recognize me as it’s been three years now for photographing her and the goslings, but that is a busy park and I am sure I am not the only one with a camera or a phone taking pictures or videos. I think I will make this an annual Spring ritual for April/early May. I really thought that one gosling looked disgusted that its sibling would just sleep when it was awake. 🙂 They already have personalities, as tiny as they are. I took a photo of a bale of baby turtles on the ramp last Thursday when I went back – it was a beautiful day, even coolish so I took a long walk past the petting farm too. Our botanical gardens had very few flowers, but some gorgeous blooming trees and I took photos of them. That’s interesting – a parcel, instead of a herd of deer. Where do they get the crazy names from?
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Oh, my, this post is so sweet and cute and made me giggle as I read it and looked at the photos. I can tell you had so much fun taking the photos and putting the post together. 🥰 Way to capture their pre-teen moments and come away with photos to share without any nips at your ankles. The link you shared about names of animal groups, that was so fun too! Well done for the group prompt!
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I’m glad you liked it Shelley and I did have fun taking the photos and putting the post together. Thank you. I ended up not using any shots taken Tuesday, the 30th as the visit afterward was more rewarding, as I was really up close with the goslings. Dad was supposed to be guarding them, especially while they were sleeping, but he was looking at Coan Lake and I took advantage of Mom and the kids sleeping or drowsy to get some shots, almost bending down to their level. I thought that list was a fun link. I had another link with a list that was much more extensive, but this one with its graphics was more fun. I am a little behind in Reader. Will probably stay up later tonight. We had a thunderstorm earlier, but the main event will be sometime between now (8:40 and 11:00 p.m.). They had tornadoes on the west side of the state already.
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I’d say the geese gave you excellent opportunities to catch them in action. Watch out when they all can get around and chase you – they might seek revenge 😉😂
Yes, the list in the link was clever. I liked the title for the Flamingos.
We had storms all day – most of the severe stuff missed us, thankfully. I hope your night was quiet and less stormy compared to predictions!
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Today I was at Council Point Park (where they still have not begun the work, so I will go as much as I can) and there were two geese families on the path. One was the original family I first saw on April 8th, the day the project was to begin. If you could see how large those babies got … it always amazes me, but usually I see them almost every day, so it is not as noticeable. I saw them April 8th, maybe a week later, but neither time I had the camera with me. I had errands, so just didn’t take it. The first family had brown goslings, almost as big as the parents. There was a second family – they were young, but not newborns, maybe 10-12 days old. The father was hissing at me. I tried to get its picture, but the sun was in my eyes.
Very clever name for the flamingos!
I’m glad you remain unscathed Shelley – whew! Well, they predicted severe weather for us yesterday but SE Michigan did not get hit, but the all-clear was not given until 10:30, so I stayed up to ensure it was okay to go to bed. Even with the weather alarm, I wanted to be after seeing the twin tornadoes photos from Portage. We were lucky as there were 12 tornadoes touched down in SW Michigan last night that did a lot of damage. The meteorologist said we are in for a stormy Summer in part due to the El Nino Winter. I’d have rather had a normal Winter.
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Yay for seeing the families again. It’s amazing how quickly they grow. You’re fortunate to be able to go often enough to see the stages and to be able to get close enough without them doing more than just hissing at you!
Dang…the weather this spring summer is turning out not as promising as we hoped. I hope the rest of the summer isn’t as stormy!! Grr…
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Yes, I am lucky for that … I am glad they haven’t started working the Park yet, although they moved the smaller earth-moving machines closer to the Creek. Today it is cold, 25 degrees colder than yesterday. I am sitting here and just put the heat on to warm up the house.
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It sort of seems like they don’t have a solid plan for the park, just random acts of equipment movement. 😂
The temps have been crazy up and down. We’re heading into a cool day today too. That’s May for us – we aren’t out of the woods for frost until mid-June.
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Unfortunately that moving around equipment came to a crashing halt when they began in earnest. It hurts my heart to see what they hav done to my favorite nature nook.
Mid-June … that is late. I never planted until Memorial Day and even then, there were cool days.
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Aw…I hope that after they’re done with the work it’ll be a special place that is even better for the birds and critters.
Yeah, it was a shock that year – the corn crop didn’t do well. Memorial Day weekend weather has been a mix of highs and lows – hard to predict but typically the end of the freezing weather and safe to plant seeds. That’s my plan, I hope it works out!
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Well, I am hopeful, but not too hopeful given the amount of damage they did to all the trees along the shoreline. Essentially I fel they decimated this Park – there were nests in those trees and they should have waited a month or so as it is goose nesting season as well. We have about four to six families every year and only three have shown up so far.
That’s best or you’ll be running out with a cover to keep them warm every night.
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Aw…that’s so sad. 😢 I hope you’ll see the park eventually recover along with the nesting season visitors.
Yes – so true!
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Well, I’ll be honest Shelley and tell you that it will not recover in my lifetime. I’d like to know if, after this work is done, they will be planting trees or not. It looks very bad there and I hope a lot of critters didn’t die because they just used that big amphibious bulldozer to take trees down. I hope you are right though. That would make me happy!
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Aw… I wish I had a crystal ball to let you know it will eventually revive and thrive. 🤗
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It’s really difficult going there Shelley. Today, the area they were clearing Monday was all done – it looks bare in places where they’ve cleared tree debris away, but with all the trees piled up along the shoreline, it looks like nothing but devastation, like a bad storm came through. Today they started on the walking loop on the other side of the Park. Had they done that side, it would not have been so bad – there is an inline skating rink, soccer field and playground equipment and it is more in the residential neighborhood, mostly bushes, some trees. I rarely walk on that side, preferring the side with the squirrels, birds, waterfowl … and shade. Now that the trees are gone, that shady path is gone and will be nothing but sun, so will be miserable in the Summer. When I went to the Park, I had a lot of squirrels run over to see me … it wasn’t me, but the peanuts and seeds. So this morning, since they have torn up even more shoreline trees, I saw maybe 15 squirrels altogether, mostly on the “inside” part of the Park that they’re not tearing apart. And for the most part, they are skittish … my heart breaks for them and what HAD been a gem.
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Aw…that is SO sad! 😭😭😭 I’m speechless. 💔
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I can’t explain how bad it looks … I am very sad to be down there. I might as well be walking on a city street for all the ravaging they have done. It is no longer my nirvana.
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Aw… 😭😭😭 It makes me wonder if there’s a detailed project plan listed somewhere in the public records that you could look at to see what they’re long-term vision is?
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They say that down the road, the goal is to have the Ecorse Creek flow better and encourage aquatic wildlife, but I can’t see how ripping apart natural habitat is going to help. They should have just dredged the Creek as it had fallen trees/logs and people throw things in there, like a picnic table and garbage cans from another part of the Park and maybe they should have tried that first … that’s my opinion, but their goal is the same for all the cities that this Creek passes through.
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Hmm, interesting, but still sad. 😢
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Yes, very … when I see them sitting on what was likely “their tree”, now haphazard pieces on the ground I feel badly for them.
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😭😭😭
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Gaggle, Google, giggle – wonderful alliteration!
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Thank you Dave – I love alliteration and this was a perfect time to use it!
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We grew up with the same television line up. The best time of the week was when Wild Kingdom, the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau or National Graphic Specials. Also, not to be missed were Saturday nights and the Disney movie of the week.
I love your gaggle of geese and I actually enjoy looking up the names for a group of this or that. You have to wonder how they got their names. Which leads me down the etymology path. We like to learn.
I love the goslings! Are the parents used to you and not hissing at you anymore?
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That TV show lineup fostered our love for nature Zazzy. I loved the Disney movie of the week too. All the good animal shows, some books I read as a youngster made into a World of Disney movie.
I have a longer list of groups of critters if you want to see it. That was my original link and I was going to put it into a Word document as a little chart to embed in the post, but when I pulled it into a Word document, it was 11 pages (double-spaced) so forget that, so I went a’Googling again – this was a better link with the graphics – where do they get these names anyway? 🙂
I do think the parents are used to me so no hissing from them, once Mom and the goslings woke up. My secret this year to getting up close with my compact digital camera was Papa Goose was standing on guard, but facing toward Coan Lake; everyone else was dozing in the sunshine. Even when a few goslings were awake, Papa was still looking the other way. This is year #3 for photographing her from nest to Mama and I’d like to make it an annual ritual for me too.
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These are my favorite pictures you have posted so far Linda! I don’t know how you got so close to the babies without mama chasing you.
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Thanks Diane! I was lucky because when I went back two days later, Papa was NOT minding his goslings. Sure he was standing nearby, but gazing at Coan Lake, not them. Mama and the goslings were sleeping, so I hunched down close and took the shots. Then they opened their eyes and peeked at me like “who are you and why are you taking our photo?”
Today at Council Point Park, (where they still have not begun the project), there were two families and family with younger goslings, maybe 10 days old or so, judging from their height and coloring, were cute but Papa was hissing at me and snaking his neck like he was agitated. I took several photos, but I really wanted one of him hissing, but the sun was not in my favor and all I could see was myself reflected back in the point-and-shoot window.
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Aww – babies. 🙂
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Those goslings are so sweet Ruth. I came home with so many photos of them and it was difficult to pick my favorites. 🙂
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We’re hoping to have chicks next week. We have two hens sitting on 10 eggs right now. 🙂
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How sweet – I hope you post some pics of the chicks (and Ranger their protector). 🙂
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It will be interesting to see what Ranger does since these chicks will be raised by momma hens.
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He may feel “put out” like his job has been taken over. You will have to get him a few chicks of his own. 🙂
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They are adorable and it’s great that you were able to find the goslings with their parents after they hatched!! The proper terminology for describing birds is complex: goose and gander; gaggle and skein. Ack! So much to learn and so fascinating.
So yellow and fluffy!!
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I think things were simpler when we just said “a group of …” and called it done. It is complicated yet fascinating. They are so sweet and fluffy looking. They lose that yellow very quickly as they beginning turning a mottled gray and brown. I saw some grown-up goslings yesterday that almost looked like “mini-mes” of their parents.
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Oh, those babies are so cute!!
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You just want to pick them up and pet them don’t you Kirstin? I know that’s how I feel when I see them!
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Wonderful close up shots Linda 🙂
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Thank you Sandra! These goslings were so cute, just a few days old. I saw a lot of goslings today. At Council Point Park, I finally saw the family with a dozen goslings someone told me about, although they were in the water, so I’m not sure how good the photo will be – I needed to do a panorama shot! Then at Lake Erie Metropark today there were multiple families. The smallest ones are the sweetest, swimming in the green murky swamp as their parents waded in there when I showed up. 🙂
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