It’s the last day of Thanksgiving weekend – holiday #1 is in the books and now it is full steam ahead to the festive holidays of Hanukkah and Christmas.
If you’re exhausted and in need a smile, here’s a wee dose of cuteness to help you chill.
On Memorial Day weekend, Sunday, May 25th, I took a very long stroll at Lake Erie Metropark, a stroll so long and full of photo ops, that I am going to divide those pics into more bite-sized pieces.
Spring had sprung and everything was fresh and green, with wildflowers everywhere – you’ll see those pics next Sunday, but this post will be all about a Canada Goose and her brood.
As I tootled along the Cherry Island Trail, I came upon Mama Canada Goose and her goslings snacking on long grass. Papa Goose was nowhere to be found – whew! Happily, I knew I would be spared the glares, wing-flapping and hissing, the usual histrionics directed to humans. But always remember that Mama Goose may be a force to be reckoned with as regards her babies.
Mama saw me strolling slowly toward them and suddenly grazing came to an abrupt halt. She turned around, then began marching down the marshy bank. She didn’t honk or make a single noise, but guided her four goslings in a neat queue to the edge of the water.
Talk about eat and run! A long strand of grass was still hanging from Mama’s bill.
I kept a respectable distance away, half-expecting the family to wade into the marsh, distancing themselves from me, but they stayed there at the water’s edge. I guess Mama was confident that this intruder that interrupted their mid-day meal was not going to harm them and she finally swallowed that grass.
With only sparse grass to chow down on, the family meandered along the marsh edge …
… with a nibble here or there, kind of like you’re doing with your holiday leftovers.
Since it was too early to swim after eating 🙂 …
… Mama began to preen, stretching out each wing in a flared-out fashion, affording me a look at the wing’s intricate feather structure and various textures. She caught me peeping at her and put that wing down, but I still got this shot.
Since Mama was occupied, the goslings began to roam, their oversized, wide-webbed feet skimming the murky marsh water, then they headed straight to the mud. I thought “oh, don’t do that kids – you’ll get filthy!” I pictured those still-downy-soft bodies soon speckled with mud, but surprising, I only saw a single mud splatter on this little guy or gal.
And, of course, no gosling post is complete without a shot of their wiggle butts.
I likened the goslings to kids that like to splash in mud puddles. Not this kid though, as I was warned about ruining my shoes by traipsing through water and/or mud. In fact, I had a pair of slip-on galoshes that went over my shoes – Mom called them “puddlers” and I hated those things! The hard vinyl had a funky smell and scraped against my ankles, but yes, my feet stayed warm and dry, thus preserving my shoes.
Papa Goose was a slacker that day as he never did show up to give me the business. I moved on from the cutie pies and visited other areas of the park where Spring had already erupted.
I hope this dose of cuteness gets you through the post-holiday(s) daze.
I am joining Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge: Textures.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Lovely!
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Glad you like them Anne – when you’re little and cute, you have the world by the tail!
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Such cute goslings and geese, Linda! You caught their soft, Downey textures perfectly, even with the threat of mud! Love the golden glow in the photos! Happy first day of Advent!
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Glad you like them Terri. Six months later and you probably can’t tell them from their parents now. I had lots of gosling pics I’d taken in the Spring, so I was glad I saved this set. It was perfect timing for a much-needed dose of cuteness, plus I knew it would work for “Textures” with their soft feathers and Mom’s outstretched wing showing its feathers. Thank you – same to you!
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Lovely shots of the goose family! 🙂 The closeup of mama checking her wings fits the “textures’ theme perfectly, as well as the fluffy goslings. I hope you had a nice Thanskgiving weekend. Hard to believe it’s December already!
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Thank you Debbie! The goslings are always such fun to take photos of, especially when they look right at you like the one did in the header photo. I thought the mama checking her wing would work well for “textures” too, so I was glad I held these photos back. In the Spring I could probably post every week about the goslings, so I put these photos away for a while. It was a quiet holiday weekend, but the weather was ugly, very windy (35-40 mph winds up daily from Wednesday through yesterday), plus snow Sunday, icy today and snow tonight. I am ready to bypass not only December, but the entire Winter season! I know Ontario is dealing with weather woes too.
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Definite cuteness!
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Those goslings are honking, somewhat ornery adults by now, but, what cute babies they are!
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one can never have too much cuteness!
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I agree with you Wayne. Those sweet babies are now adults with their quirky histrionics, but, just like us back in the day, were so very cute!
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Very cute!
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Yes, they are so cute at that age before they acquire a bit of attitude. By now, six months later, you probably can’t tell them apart from their parents!
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The wiggle butts are my favorite textures in this cuteness post.
I’ve never owned a pair of slip-on galoshes or puddlers. I absolutely have no memory of what I would wear on my feet when my siblings and I were told to go play in the rain. I think we went barefooted like those fluffy little wiggle butts.
It’s cold drizzly wet here all day. Perfect post for the weather on this dreary Monday and first day of the month of December! 🐥🐥🐥🐥
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TD, they are so darling, that you almost want to pick them up and cuddle them, but Mama wouldn’t go for that at all. I hated my puddlers and then later for Winter, it was shoe boots, those brown boots with buckles you wore over your shoes. They similarly kept my feet dry and warm, but the puddlers were the worst. We are getting more snow tonight and woke up to temps in the teens this morning.
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Fuzz balls! I’m guessing they don’t look this way very long; probably practically adults in a matter of months. Surprised their oversized feet don’t get suctioned into the mud.
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They are so sweet at this age Dave, but yes, by now, six months later, you can’t tell them from their parents, maybe even before that. The oversized feet always crack me up because it takes a while for them to grow into them, then all the while they have those tiny wings … the proportion is all off, but eventually everything catches up. 🙂
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I went back for a second look. You have the one photo with the goslings side-by-side looking like twins. It’s the only one where you can see the beginnings of the wings!
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Those goslings when they flap their tiny wings are so cute. I have a photo in a post of a gosling running toward the water, flapping those tiny wings. It’s one of my favorite pictures ever!
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So lovely. Thanks, Linda.
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You’re welcome … just a little dose of cuteness to make your Monday better Pam.
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They are so very cute! I also like them when they are “teenagers” !
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Yes, they almost look cuddle-able don’t they? Then, when they’re teenagers, suddenly they’re sleek … all in a matter of weeks. 🙂
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Oh, cuteness and spring weather is just what I need as winter settles in. Funny how you were concerned about them getting muddy – a quick swim would rinse it all away. I love if it was warm enough to get my (bare) feet in the dirt or mud. 🙂 Sadly, I’m afraid those days are a long way off.
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Ruth, I saw so many goslings in the Spring that I could have filled a post with them weekly, so I’m glad I saved these babies for what sure feels like Winter. Yes, no bare feet in dirt or mud for six months, (at least), especially after today’s bitter cold! That is true about rinsing off the mud in the water, but that water was anything but clean since the water level was so low. They looked so perfect that I hated seeing them get dirty! (Good thing I was never a mom!)
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Great shots of the goslings exploring. They do grow up fast.
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Thanks Rebecca – they are so cute when they are young and exploring, usually following in their mom’s footsteps. These goslings probably are the same size as their parents by now and you can’t tell them apart.
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The babies are always just the cutest things!
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They are Eilene, little bundles of fluff and innocence. By now, six months later, I’m sure they are the same size as their parents and sporting attitudes as well!
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Thank you for the big dose of cuteness! Those wiggle butts are priceless and I especially loved the first photo and the tenth one, where the gosling seems to be taking in the whole wide world surrounding him/her.
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Glad to give you a smile with these cutie pies and their wiggle butts Barbara. 🙂 I just went back and looked at the tenth photo and yes, that shot and the first shot were my favorites too. That gosling was taking in everything around him/her and probably wondering when its first flight over the marsh would be. Six months ago they were so tiny and now, we probably can’t tell them apart from mom and dad.
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That was very cute! How old would they be? Is the marsh usually that muddy, or is the water level low?
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Thank you Joni! Those goslings are so sweet when they are that young. I’d say they were about two or three weeks old as they were already getting taller, starting to get tiny wings and their feathers were more mottled looking with some grayish patches. Up until that point, their feathers are more lemon yellow. You are right – it was muddy due to the water level being so low. It’s been terrible for the last year, but this year was very bad. I was there in mid-November and many of the marshes were completely dried up, from not only our moderate drought conditions, but also all these big wind events we’ve been having. I hope they don’t dry up permanently because I suspect the resident waterfowl will move along somewhere else. This is happening at Council Point Park too, plus it’s bad there because the big destruction project in May 2024 was to widen the Creek on either side, so more dirt and it looks muddy just like it does in these pictures.
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Linda, this sure was a big dose of cuteness to help me chill – and the snow falling on your blog theme was FUN! It gently went across the scrolling and added a nice winter touch – even if the photos were from earlier this year. It all flowed so well.
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I’m glad you had a relaxing moment when you looked at this blog post Yvette – those goslings were so darn cute. I thought people might appreciate a calming post after what was a hectic weekend for many. I love the snow effect too! I get the WordPress blog posts in my Reader. I don’t know if they send them out to everyone or I subscribed awhile back, but a few weeks ago, there was a post about all the new “techy” plug-ins with the latest WP upgrade. I commented that I don’t use any plug-ins, but asked if they could bring back the snow as we had it awhile back and I liked it. She sent me the link to my settings – it’s just a toggle button to turn it on/off and it’s available as of December 1st and will turn itself off on January 4th. I thought it was a nice touch for the holidays. If you’d like the instructions, just let me know, okay?
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Thanks for offering – I will let you know if I decide to use it (and I did use a LONG time ago – and so I am glad they allow it again)
xxx
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No problem Yvette – I like they brought it back too. Something calming and cheery at the same time.
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🙂
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PS – From your Nov 9th post, I really liked the extra details about Francesca’s Heart sculpture!
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It was a sad story and the sculpture is simple but says so much. I remember when the accident happened as I read about it in the local newspaper. Francesca was a very beautiful bride and they used a wedding picture in the obituary.
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😊😊
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very sad – ugh
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Yes it was sad Yvette.
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A post full of cuteness Linda!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it Diane! Sometimes it’s good to keep some of those photos of the Springtime babies to haul out when we all need that dose of cuteness the most! 🙂
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Love to see the duckies!!
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They’re all sweet when they are young aren’t they?
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It is either a blast from the past or a look into the future as I look at these young goslings on this cold December day!
Now all I can think of is the old English Christmas carol with the words “Christmas is coming – the goose is getting fat”.
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I wish we were back on this Spring day JP – our weather is horrible here, between snow, ice and cold. Those young goslings are grown up and the same size as their parents now, also just as ornery. I did a post about that song once as it got close to Christmas and showed a lot of geese and found a site to attach red ribbons to their necks (long before AI was around). P.S. – I feel badly as all my comments on posts I did Friday night all ended up in those blogger’s SPAM folders. If you don’t find my comment, let me know and I’ll comment again. WP is wobbly these days, but I see you got your “like” button fixed. 🙂
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Thanks for the heads-up, your comment was indeed in my spam folder. And it was just yours, so who knows. Just like the way my ability to “like” things just returned today.
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You’re welcome JP. I don’t know what happened there, but I alerted everyone as I didn’t want them to think I just “liked” their post and didn’t bother to read it. And besides, I had a lot to say! Spooky stuff is afoot in WP sometimes. 🙂
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