Mother’s Day is always a time of reflection for me – today’s post will be a mini time travel.
I weighed a mere 4 pounds, 11 ounces (2.13 kilograms) when I was born, so my parents were surprised when I suddenly sprouted into a gangly 5’9” (175 cm) teenager and towered over them by half a foot. Mom always attributed that growth spurt to the special baby formula the pediatrician prescribed for me and she often relayed the tale that two days before I was born, she crossed paths with the elderly Italian neighbor at the apartment building where they lived. After eying my mom’s midsection, the elderly woman pointed at it, then commented “no bambinos for you yet?” Well, it was almost mid-April and still cold; Mom was wearing a loose-fitting jacket. Mom smiled, patted her stomach and said “Saturday I am having a C-section” and the elderly woman beamed. I fondly recall that story, not just on Mother’s Day, but on my birthday as well.
We had gorgeous weather for the week after Easter, so I was here, there and everywhere, all excursions where I took a lot of photos and I have already drafted posts to reflect those walks. During those multiple meanders, I saw three Mamas-to-be … not the human kind, but the feathered variety.
So, having dabbled in sweet sentiments about my mom last year and, instead of doing a separate walk and featuring each of those bird mamas-to-be, I thought it would be fun to round them up and spin them into one post. So here they are: two Canada Goose Mamas-to-be and, not to be outdone, a Killdeer Mama-to-be.
Heritage Park on Easter Sunday.
I decided it was time to revisit Mrs. Canada Goose and see what side of the boulders she favored in 2025 for her nesting perch at the covered bridge. Believe me, those boulders are rough and despite sitting on a cushion of leaves, downy feathers and as many as ten eggs, it still doesn’t look too welcome, nor comfy, to be there for the entire 25-to-28-day incubation period. Papa Goose does not share incubation duties.
First a little backstory …
It was April 2, 2022, when I first saw Mrs. Goose sitting on a nest in the boulders. I returned often to see if the goslings had hatched and to take photos. Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, was a special day for me. When I wrote about my all-time favorite blog posts, on this day, witnessing the beauty of Mrs. Goose, rising from the nest, lovingly plucking her own downy feathers to cushion the nest full of eggs was a special sight to see. The tenderness I witnessed was the best Easter eggs scenario ever!
Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.
There are some constants in our lives that never change and the influx of Spring bird babies is one of them.
When I arrived at the covered bridge on Easter morning this year, it was the same scenario as 2022 through 2024 … Mrs. Goose was sitting on a nest, but every year she picks a different location, although always on the boulders.
But this year she was precariously close to the water’s edge. Yikes!
She eyed me sleepily, then evidently since I didn’t pose a threat, she shut her eyes again.
The sun was shining, warming all of us on that chilly Sunday morning. “All of us?” you ask.
Well, Mr. Goose was nearby, intent on guarding his mate should I dare to stray too close. In fact, I had to laugh because he had just taken a dip in Coan Lake when I happened along the covered bridge.
Preening immediately came to a standstill as he eyed me from all angles …
… even upside down. 🙂
I have returned to Heritage Park in the past few days and am happy to report that the nest is gone and there is, so far, one family of goslings. I took photos of them for a future post.
Here was the Little Mama-to-be I saw on Earth Day.
Two days later, on Earth Day, I meandered around the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge (DRIWR) and took a ton of photos, about half of them of a Killdeer Mama-to-be.
I specifically went to this venue because in a Facebook post the DRIWR mentioned multiple Killdeer nests and they had flagged them so they would not get damaged.
This is because Killdeer are a tad quirky about their nesting habits. First, who would build a nest on the ground? Well that is what Killdeer do and it’s not an elaborate nest at all. Unlike waterfowl that sit continuously on a nest to incubate the eggs, a Killdeer female shares incubating responsibilities with her mate, but they often leave the nest unattended. Like this …
But, lest you, the potential two-legged predator, or any other predator, get too close to those unhatched or hatched babies, the female Killdeer will make a shrill call to get your attention, then feign having a broken wing to detract you from her nest. I have seen plenty of Killdeer at this venue and other venues, but this was a first for me.
Here are some photos of Mrs. Killdeer trying to get my attention. She turned her head to watch me as you see below. I peeked at the nest, from a respectable distance, got a few photos and backed off. But there were more nests than this one, which you’ll see in an upcoming post.
I didn’t take this video of Mama-to-be Killdeer, but if you click here, you can see how she acted when she felt her offspring or eggs in the nest are in danger.
Once Mama-to-be Killdeer was assured I meant no harm, she flew over to the parking curb and glanced at me from afar before she finally flew away.
There was another Canada Goose Mama-to-be at the Fair Lane Estate.
The very hot day when I walked six miles to three venues may have made for a long, exhausting day, but it made up for it with future blog post photos. By 1:00 p.m., the spring in my step had turned to a trudge, but I still wanted to stop at Clara Ford’s original Rose Garden Pond, hoping to glimpse some small frogs there. At my last visit to the pond there was a class field trip and all the kids were oohing and aahing each time the interpretive guide dipped a huge net into the pond and brought out a massive amount of squirming green frogs. I wanted to see those frogs – would they sing, hop onto a lily pad … well okay, perhaps it was too early for a lily pad.
Sadly, the pond had no frogs, just a solitary Eastern Painted Turtle sunning in the dead reeds.
But just as I approached the pond, a Canada Goose that had been grazing on grass nearby, suddenly paused in mid-chew, aware of my presence and waddled over to the pond.
There was no wing-flapping or hissing, just the occasional steady gaze in my direction.
I’ve been around enough geese this time of year, that my radar went up … there was either a Mama Goose and his goslings nearby, or his mate was sitting on a nest.
Bingo!
There she was, embedded in the dead reeds in the center of the pond.
I want to note that both geese had their beaks open because of the heat – this is how all birds cool down since, unlike you and me, birds do not sweat. Here’s a close-up of each of them panting.
I artfully dodged his watchful eye to get a few shots, then moved on.
I’ve been back to this venue since to see the lilacs in bloom and check on Mr. and Mrs. Goose. The nest was gone, the parents and goslings were on the move and I got a lot of photos of the family for a future blog post. They were the one and only family of geese I saw that day.
Happy Mother’s Day if it applies to you.
Terri does not have a Challenge this week.
Note: featured image photo of goose eggs in the nest is from my 2022 Mother’s Day post.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Lovely photos Linda. The Killdeer are like the Masked Lapwing Plovers here who do the same thing
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Thank you Brian – I had some lucky finds here. I just took a look at your Masked Lapwing Plovers – they look similar and have those same long legs and run like the wind.
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What a delightful post! I enjoyed all your photos, too.
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Thank you Anne! I had a good week for walking AND photos. Happy Mother’s Day!
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So much activity this time of year! The Killdeer “nests” seem very vulnerable to predators… or just someone/thing not paying attention to where they are walking. I guess Mother Nature knows what she’s doing, though.
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There is a lot of bird activity right now Janis. In the last week I’ve seen five sets of goslings already and there will be lots more to come. I wanted to go back today to see if any of the Killdeer eggs hatched as there were four or five nests and I’m sure they’re still flagged, but I wore myself out walking five miles at another park. 🙂 It seems kind of careless to the Killdeer to build a nest on the ground, then flit off, but as you say, Mother Nature knows what she is doing.
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Lovely post, Linda. So much warmth. Thank you. Happy Mother’s Day if it applies. Blessings.
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Thank you Selma. I always try to do something fun in conjunction with Mother’s Day if I can. Thank you, but I have no children. Happy Mother’s Day to you if it applies.
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Excellent shots Linda! You are becoming a great birder.
I bet some of these repeat geese are becoming familiar with you too. When animals trust you a special bond develops!
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Thank you Wayne! It was a good week for birding and photos. I am thinking that the goose on the boulders at Heritage Park should really remember me as this is the fourth year I’ve monitored her and her goslings. I wanted to go back to the Wildlife Refuge today to check on baby Killdeer – they had four or five clutches in that field, but I wore myself out at Lake Erie Metropark, walking five miles and taking lots of photos, including a few of Luc who was in a different spot. After seven years of walking there and visiting him, while I was there, he went down that slanted walkway and was sitting on the ground looking out of the cage. He wasn’t eating or drinking, but came right to the edge of the cage and gave a chirp. I mention this because you mention the special bond as I always visit him. 🙂
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Luc is recognizing you. The one thing he lacks is anybody to have a relationship with!
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That made me feel good Wayne. I don’t think it was comfortable for him though as he kept fluttering his wings – that is not something I’ve ever seen him do when he is perched in his usual spot. I think he is grateful that someone just comes over to say “hi” to him. I see people walk by all the time to go to the overlook or start on the trail and never even glance his way. And I got a small chirp as well. 🙂
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I’m sure he does appreciate visits but even more so from somebody he recognizes. I suspect most animals have a social need that needs to be satiated.
His socializing is extremely poor. It would be akin to putting a human into isolation at a jail.
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Yes, it is lonely for him Wayne. Yes, he is situated near an overlook and not far from the Marshland Museum, but people just walk past … how do you do that and not have a greeting for a living being. And I got a little chirp as well.
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He’s beginning to recognize you. He’ll be watching for you I bet!
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I hope so Wayne. I’ve been “chattin’ it up” with him since 2018, so I’m happy if he does remember me. I’m still amazed that he hopped down to the bottom perch, something I’ve never seen him do before in my presence and he stayed there the whole time I was there, not going for water or food.
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They can feed him but they cannot feed him for socializing! If they pout another cage beside him of another eagle he would be dancing all night!
Luc is the worlds loneliest eagle!
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I am sure Luc loves any interaction by anyone who even stops and says “hi” to him, but yes, he would be over-the-moon happy if there was another rehabbed eagle beside him for company. I was there again today for quite a while – we have another rainy week in store after Tuesday p.m. I went to visit him, but there was a group of people around the cage – it might have been an interpretive walk so I didn’t feel like I should butt in.
I saw a raccoon in a tree today – something different and a first at this park for me. A woman had her phone out and was taking photos of something and gazing up at a tree, so I asked what she saw – totally would have missed the racoon as it blended in with the dead tree and she said it was stuck up there and it was not sure how to get down. It got down eventually. I was sorry I arrived so late in its adventure as I only got a couple of photos of it at the very end.
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He is starved for some sort of social interaction! It must be very hard on him……..I know It is for humans when they lock someone away in isolation!
You do not see any Racoons? I would have thought there would be lots of them for some reason but maybe they tend to gather around human garbage places and not in the wild?
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Yes, Luc needs interaction of any type to keep from feeling so isolated and dejected. Especially in the nicer weather when there are lots of people, but they are not necessarily stopping by. Nope, no raccoons at this park. That was a first for me. Once it climbed down the tree, it disappeared into the brush and I was on a wooden overlook and couldn’t look for it. I follow a Facebook site of Huron Clinton Metropark Photographers which are all amateur photographers taking pics at the 13 Metroparks. The biggest Metropark has lots of raccoons – people post pics of the babies looking out of a tree hole nest or an adult peeking between the leaves. It was like when I saw the red fox a few years ago. That was a first for me and others standing around said they had never seen one there either. I see no one taking fox pictures on that Facebook site, so maybe we were unique. We DO have raccoons now in the neighborhood. My next-door neighbor came home after dark and pulled up in the driveway and the car headlights shone on an adult and young raccoon that had flipped up his garbage bin lid and were in there looking for food.
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I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing your photographs today 🙂
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Thank you Anne! I figured it would be fun to pare them from the regular walk photos and do something special for Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to you!
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I love that last picture of the mama killdeer. Making lots of noise seems to be their best defense when protecting their eggs. I remember watching one trying to keep her chicks from scattering all over a gravel parking lot. What a fuss she made! It was nice to see mama goose sitting on her rock fortress again — she must have some good reasons for selecting her nesting site even if we can’t figure them out. But a nest in the center of the pond at the Fair Lane Estate seems more practical and perhaps easier for papa goose to monitor. There are so many parenting methods in the world!
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I’m glad you liked the post and pictures Barbara. It was so interesting to see the Mama Killdeer doing this broken wing scenario. I had heard about it and also had seen videos, so it was interesting to see it for myself, so when I saw the post by the DWIWR, I headed there right away. Motherhood, no matter the species, is amazing! I planned to return there today like I have done with the two Canada Geese on their nests, but I spent too much time walking and taking pics at Lake Erie Metropark and it was late and I was worn out. Then I got here late and my computer has an issue, so I am using the old one.
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The stuff about the killdeer was really interesting. I wonder if the new chicks think to offer their mother a tweet for mother’s day. 😁
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I find it interesting about the Killdeer nesting habits too JP. It seems a bit slipshod to me, but I guess if it works for them…. I hope the new chicks did the right thing for their moms for Mother’s Day and offered up a tweet. 🙂
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All the photos are great but the last one made me laugh out loud. Who’s watching who?
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I’m glad you liked all the photos Ally – it was fun putting together this post with all the bird Mamas-to-be. So, I went back and looked and yes, shooting daggers and not very kind looks at all. 🙂
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Lovely post on the mothers to be of the feather kind ❤️
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Thank you Zena – I’m glad these bird mothers to be gave you a warm and fuzzy feeling and a little smile today.
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Lovely photos as always.
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Thank you Linda, I’m glad you liked them! Happy Mother’s Day to you!
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome!
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Perfect post for mother’s day!
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Thank you Kate … yes, all these eggs-pecting Mama birds.
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Very nice finds, Linda! I like to watch the Killdeer as it tries to distract.
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Thank you Rebecca! I found it very interesting as well, a first for me though I’ve seen videos of it before. Happy Mother’s Day to you.
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Wonderful pics, Linda! It’s so cool how some birds make their nests on the ground… a rather risky place to be.
Possible rain in the forecast here; we need it desperately. The lack of rain and the constantly high winds have made the log jam at the bridge that i live by more substantial.
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I am glad you liked the pictures Tom. I thought it would be fun to spotlight these three bird mamas and I would have liked to return to see if the Killdeer eggs hatched, but I walked five miles and wore myself out at Lake Erie Metropark today. I was hoping to see Sandhill Crane babies (colts) but no luck there. But lots of other good sightings, enough for two posts. It does seem risky to lay your eggs on the ground – there were four or five nests that the Wildlife Refuge had flagged, thankfully, or people would have accidentally stepped on them.
That’s good about the rain and removing the log jam – even though you live up high, you don’t want any worries from the weather. We are also having a wet weather week, Tuesday through Friday. It’s not been a nice Spring, with the exception of a day or two here and there.
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Great pictures, Linda. Sadly, something got to our killdeer nest. My husband arrived at the farm one day and the eggs and both parents were gone. We are guessing it was a racoon or possum. Sad.
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Thank you Ruth – I was amazed the day I took the pictures that each clutch of eggs (there were four or five nests) looked exactly the same. Not just the color, which is what you would expect, but the eggs were all standing upright, none sideways, etc. I’m sorry your nest and eggs are gone – predators like what happened at the Park. It is sad. On a happier note, Happy Mother’s Day!
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Thank you, Linda. It was a good day. 🙂
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That’s great Ruth.
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Cute story! And I love learning about the killdeer.
Happy Mother’s Day and happy belated birthday to you, Linda!
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Thank you TD. I had heard about the Killdeer before, even saw a video like I included and found it interesting. I wasn’t really that close to the nest (or any of the four or five nests) but zoomed in on them, so she was watching me intently it seems.
Thank you TD – I am not a mom, though I used to feel like I was a pet parent to the squirrel population, but that’s no longer true as they’ve dwindled to just one, sometimes two now. Hopefully, it is because the females are up in the nest with their offspring. Thank you for the belated birthday wishes as well.
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I don’t know how you find all the nests with eggs! I have never seen the nests on the ground with eggs. Have you ever had the geese go after you? You have them figured out Linda, I loved the looks you were getting from the dad goose.
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It was very cool seeing all the nests on the ground Diane. There were four or five of them, so I am assuming the Killdeer feigning the broken wing was for the nest I was looking at. They were in a big field, none of them all that close. I have had the geese go after me years ago when I was feeding them bread and did not know at the time that bread was bad for them. I took a bag of bread I had broken up – I think there was a BOGO sale at Meijer for big loaves, so I took it for them. So the first wave of geese got the bread, then more came looking for bread. I turned the bag inside out to show them I had no more, but that did not satisfy them and they came after me, so there were a group of women walking together and I just said to them, I’m dodging the geese, can I sneak in here please and they couldn’t find me. For this post, I had fun putting it together, especially since I had two more Mamas to add this year and I got some cute pics of the goslings for both these Mamas last Friday. I have good news – I found out from the site I follow about waterfowl rescues (mostly ducks) … the DNR has given a reprieve to gassing the geese for a year. I just found that out so will be doing a paragraph in next week’s post. I’m glad for that. On the not-so-great news front, my new computer had a meltdown after a Windows update yesterday – I turn my updates off until I am ready, but Windows infiltrated this computer and did an update and last night I had to use the old laptop as the computer shut itself down. Today, I had errands, grocery shopping and came here to see if it was working. Turned it on, it was black, then said “repairing” but my files were lost, then there, now they are ghosted again. I may have to do a system restore. I’ll deal with it tomorrow as it’s late to fool with it.
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Wow that’s a lot of nests you found. Those geese were not very smart to bite the hand that feeds them! I’m so sorry to hear about your computer. It seems like updates make a mess of things so often.
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Those geese were kind of scary, but then I was chased by a mute swan a few years later … I lived to talk about both tales luckily. I am on hold/in the queue again with HP. I hope they don’t close at 5:00 p.m. I don’t think it is good shutting it down like that every time.
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The great photography. I enjoy your photos. So beautiful place. You have happy mother’s day ❤️💐! How are you doing?
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Thank you Raj – I am glad you liked the photos. I am well, but I am not a mother – are you a mother; if so, I hope you had a happy Mother’s Day.
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Most welcome Linda 😄!
Really you are not a mother, Why? Iam a Man. Iam Raj 🙋
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Hi Raj. Well I was never interested to become a mother to be honest. I apologize for the misunderstanding.
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It’s ok, No problem,you don’t mind. You doesn’t merried?
Are you don’t marriaged .
God bless you,Linda.
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What an inspired idea, to take photos of mama and papa birds for Mother’s Day! 🙂 You have a knack of capturing their personalities so well, Linda. That was a fascinating bit of info about the Killdeer feigning a broken wing, Clever!
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Thank you Debbie! I would have used these photos in the three walks I took, but thought this would be different and fun. In the meantime, I have gosling photos from each of those Mama geese that I took last Friday, so I’ll make a postscript for each of those walks. I can’t tell the offspring of the Killdeer as there were four or five nests altogether flagged in the field. I thought that was unique about the Killdeer mom. The video showed exactly how she acted that day. The Killdeer was embedded in the grass, so it was not easy to tell what she was doing in the still shots.
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Good find on the nest Linda, I hardly ever see the nest.
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Sandra, thank you. Thankfully they were flagged and I went there a few days after reading that post by the Refuge. There were four or five nest, all which looked identical, which I will mention in a different post. I wonder what the incidence is for each bird to have the exact same number of eggs (4) in the clutch and they were oval, with a smaller end, all pointed down. I thought that was unusual, none laying sideways … all identical.
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I like how you captured the gander gazing at you from all angles—even upside down!
I didn’t know that killdeer were ground nesters. Mourning doves do that, too. I can’t imagine how they protect their eggs or nestlings. Seems odd.
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Thank you Eilene. That gander was pretty funny, watching me at all angles, even though I was on the covered bridge and using the zoom lens, so not near his Missus. Birds are so devoted to their mates. I was glad to finally see Killdeer eggs and the female feigning the broken wing after reading about it in the past. My neighbor had a shallow metal basket on her deck. She left it there all Winter on a low table. Before she could get a new mulch pad and then plant flowers in it, a Mourning dove nested in there. My neighbor had a door wall, so she had a good view of the incubation and hatching until Junior fledged. There were two eggs and one didn’t hatch and she watched the dove throw the egg out of the basket onto the deck floor. Yesterday I learned that the Michigan DNR is taking a pause on the goose extermination by gassing for one year because of all the complaints by not only animal rights groups, but also citizens who thought it was cruel and heartless to do this. I hope they come up with a more humane plan for 2026. I will be writing a short paragraph in my Sunday post to let people know.
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There’s no good reason for killing healthy wildlife. They should just stop it, period.
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I agree with you Eilene. I am glad so many people, me included, helped to get them to change their mind and we just learn to live in peace with the geese. Now, if they can get rid of the sharpshooters and bow-and-arrow hunters that the DNR intends to use to take down the excess deer, I will be happy.
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