It’s gosling time, or it soon will be. It’s a chance to ooh and aah at babies, but lest you get within spittin’ distance of those feathered darlings, their Papa will hiss, flap his wings, or even run toward you, wings spread wide open … no, that’s not to be confused with welcoming you to the family! Steer clear of them and give them wide berth!
So far, I’ve not seen any goslings at Council Point Park, but I’ve been toting the camera anyway, because, as you know, the one day you don’t carry the camera, is the day Papa and Mama will guide their offspring out of the water, up the Creek bank and they will make their official debut on land. You have to wonder how and where they kept those squeaky little babies under cover since they hatched?
It was NOT gosling time when I took these pictures of some of Elizabeth Park’s many Canada Geese, while they were preening, paddling around in the Canal, or parading through the fallen leaves. I wondered how many of these geese were the subject of my posts when I took photos of them back in the Spring?
This stroll was taken on October 10th last year. I intended it to be my official “Walktober” post, but the lack of vibrant leaves made me find an alternative venue, as well as topic. I went on a Halloween-type stroll instead at lovely Heritage Park.
I love taking photos of water reflections.
There were several geese that separated themselves from the rest of the group, er … gaggle, so I was able to get these up-close photos.
They look very serene, don’t they? A group of geese in the water is also called a plump.
There is always that one goose that gives you “the look” – sometimes it is dismissive, like “don’t bother me human!” Below you see I got a glimpse, a side-eye and a “go away” in the space of one minute. And no, I didn’t utter the word “plump” while looking at him/her.
Nothing like a peaceful morning and geese that aren’t too cantankerous.
I already knew the leaf peepin’ wasn’t going to be stellar.
Southeast Michigan’s moderate drought in 2025 not only made for a miserably hot and humid Summer, lowered water levels at every marsh and body of water I frequent, but made for the poor display of vibrant leaves in Autumn. The leaves turned subtle shades of yellow, maybe an orangey-red, then dropped, wiggling free with the frequent gusty winds we encountered. They dropped to the ground, crumpling up, just brown and brittle-looking piles of leaves everywhere. Elizabeth Park was always a sight to see by October, the Fall leaves resplendent in jewel tones, mostly golden from the many old Oak trees.
But on this gorgeous October day, this was the best Mother Nature could do. I was not the only person strolling on this perfect Autumn day.
As I was strolling along the circular road that serves as the island park’s only road, a one-way street shared by cars, bikes and pedestrians, I watched the geese strutting around in the dry leaves, no doubt seeking out some good-eatin’ grass as it was still green.
The squirrels were running around gathering acorns which were plentiful. Even if the Oak trees didn’t produce colorful leaves, they still dropped their acorns. So many to eat …
… and so many to bury!
Since I had visited this venue last, the park’s perimeter road, a/k/a Elizabeth Drive, had been revitalized. The park was closed for several days to get this paving and striping done and it now sported lanes for pedestrians, bikes and cars. Interestingly, someone had spraypainted “WE” on every place where the asphalt had been marked with this sign.
I was enjoying the quiet morning and as I strolled along the Boardwalk …
… I was taking a few shots, like this Juvenile Ring-billed Seagull, at first interested in the shutter clicks, then not so interested …
I paused to take a photo of this Woolly-Bear Caterpillar and, if you remember the legend of this fellow, the larger the black segments are on its body, the worse the Winter will be. I was happy to see it had NO black segments meaning a mild Winter, but …
… knowing now what I do about our wicked Winter, I know a caterpillar’s segments are not a great weather prognosticator and it is 100% folklore!
I kept moving along while headed to my car which I had parked by the Canal vehicle bridge.
Wild wings – the call of the wild.
At the Canal shoreline, the Canada geese, so sedate an hour ago when I began my walk, were all aflutter about something and, after consulting with their signal caller, about a dozen of them took flight. You may call them a bunch of geese, but if you want to be a bird nerd, the terminology for a group of geese in flight is a skein, team, or wedge.
A few stragglers were grabbing a bite of grass and got a slow start.
Try as I may, I’ve never gotten great shots of them lifting off, playing follow the leader, as they take to the air with a whirring of wings and a cacophony of honks. Soon they had passed right over me.
Whew – safe, I think. I always wonder “should I duck, protect my head by flipping up my hood?” Well, of course, that works if you’re wearing a hooded jacket or hoodie, but otherwise, you’re out of luck. Even a wide-brimmed sunhat doesn’t mean you’ll be exempt from droppings when a flock of Canada Geese are flying overhead. You could say “well, it’s all about the nature experience …” but that doesn’t really fly, does it? Excuse that bad pun by the way. I mean, poop-strewn trails are one thing; poop adorning one’s ‘do is another thing entirely.
All kidding aside, I always marvel when the Canada Geese fly in V-formation. It’s like when I hear the Goodyear Blimp overhead. My head immediately swivels upward, my hand shielding my eyes from the sun – I pay attention to both.
As to the geese, it doesn’t matter how many of them are passin’ through, or, if it is a loosely constructed “V” or a huge, perfect “V” – I always wonder, who decides to pick the leader to lead the rest? I thought it was the biggest gander, maybe deemed to be the leader by his peers, or, was it just any of the geese who decided to leave right then? So, I posed the question to Google and learned “the leadership role is rotated frequently because leading is energy-intensive.” Smithsonian Magazine said “the rest of the flock conserves energy so when the lead goose tires, it rotates with other geese, so a fresh bird takes the lead.”
And people call birds “birdbrains” – looks like they have the aerodynamics and sharing-the-load thing all figured out, don’t they?
Terri’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge this week is “April is National Garden Month” and, since I’ve shared my woes over losing my entire butterfly garden and did not plant another one, I’ll link to Terri’s Flower Hour Challenge with my Wordless Wednesday post instead. I am also participating in Pepper’s weekly walking/hiking Challenge One Step at a Time every Tuesday.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
The reflection pictures are pretty! Now, I’ve learned some new terms…geese in water is plump and geese in flight is skein, team, or wedge. I hope my memory will put that info away into long term memory. 😅
You posed an intriguing question about whixh geese leads the v formation. The answer is interesting and every goose gets a chance to lead. Love their teamwork.
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I do love reflection pictures Esther and the Canal was so calm that morning giving some great reflections. I found it interesting how the geese formation works and I am awestruck when I see huge V formations sometimes, not a goose out of place. The word “plump” was a new one for me! When “regular school” hubbub dies down a little bit, you can flaunt your new geese knowledge to the fam!
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These are lovely pictures, Linda.
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Thank you Anne! I really like when the water is calm and I can get some nice waterfowl reflections – it makes my day!
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Your post is filled with marvelous photos and descriptive words. “Plump” and “wedge” were the most fun for me.
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Thank you Anne! I have heard of a “wedge” for a group of birds flying, but I thought it only pertained to swans. I think Wayne has used it for his Trumpeter Swan pictures, but a “plump” was something new to me. I don’t think I’d use “plump” around an angry gander – they might get offended. One big flap of their wings and I might get tossed into the Canal!
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I’ve never tangled with a gander and never wish to.
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No, they can be mean – best not mess with them Anne. A few years ago there was a young man who was on his high school golf team. He walked past a goose nest and didn’t notice the nest or the goose, but the gander thought he was going to hurt his mate and attacked the guy. The young man was tall and the gander flew up at him, knocking him to the ground and he continued flapping his wings while the young man shielded his face. A fellow golfer took a video on his phone and it made the rounds on all the news stations around here.
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That was dramatic!
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I have heard that they take turns as the leader of the V formation. It’s tiring so they rotate. Birds are smarter than we think. I love Canadian geese (although I know that’s not a popular opinion). They are beautiful and take care of their own.
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That is a good system, giving the other geese a break so they can go to the front when the leader gets tired. I admire how geese take care of their mates and their young. I was at Heritage Park two weeks ago taking photos of the same goose on her nest and her mate watched me at first. I think they recognized me because I stepped a little closer to get pictures of her down feathers around the nest and he started preening and ignored me. This is the fifth or sixth year I’ve watched/photographed them. Team work and devotion to your mate are NOT qualities always found in humans!
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A very nice gallery of goose shots, Linda! I especially like the one where he/she is looking behind, over its shoulder, at you. Sorry the autumn last year was so disappointing. Maybe this year will be better – fingers crossed. Hopefully the squirrels benefitted from the good acorn harvest, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woolly bear with so little black on it. I’m also mesmerized when I see Canada geese flying in their V formation. It’s so beautiful.
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Thank you Barbara! The geese are so beautiful to photograph when they are just paddling around in the water, especially when it is calm water and makes good reflections. I am mesmerized by their in-flight beauty, no matter the size of the v-formation. I did laugh when I saw the progression of shots of that goose first with the side-eye, then looking over its shoulder at me.
I hope we do not have the same situation with our leaves again this Fall. We were in moderate drought for most of the Summer and Fall of 2025, but since we have had so much rain this Spring, we no longer have a drought situation. I hope it lasts, but this El Niño forecast to begin as early as May makes me think we may end up the same way this Summer/Fall, unrelenting heat, but not just here – everywhere. What a somber thought. In India right now it is 45C (113F).
I wish I could have scooped up some acorns for my Park squirrels. We only have a few Oaks at Council Point Park. I was finally sorting through photos taken in the Fall and had to laugh as I had been so happy to see that woolly bear with no black on it back in the Fall … talk about dispelling that myth!
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Yikes! 113F in India is very alarming, especially so early in the season. So ominous… I can’t even imagine what that feels like.
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I can’t imagine it either Barbara. The article I read said that many people in India rely on fans to keep cool as not everyone has air conditioning, especially in rural areas. Not every car had air conditioning either. We are spoiled here aren’t we?
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Wow, now I feel educated on groupings within goosery! I think skein also describes yarn, so perhaps these geese have stories to tell.
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I learned goose stuff too JP, like the “plump” was a new one for me. Yes, the skein of geese will have a yarn or two to tell as they float or fly along, so no wonder they are so noisy sometimes!
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Beautiful reflections, Linda. The autumn leaves may not be vibrant but the images are still lovely. Sunshine makes everything better. 😁
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Thank you Pepper – the water in the Canal was so calm that morning, just the way we like it for good reflections. The woods did have some nice beams of sunlight coming through the trees which we wouldn’t have seen had most of the leaves not been on the ground.
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Love the beams of sunlight, Linda. 😉
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Yes, streaming down from Heaven Pepper. 🙂
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I used to race bikes. The person in front would create a slipstream behind them, making it easier for the rest of us trailing. The leader would drop back after a while and the person in second place would take the front position.
I think this is what is going on with the geese.
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That’s interesting Wayne – I don’t know if you’ve ever mentioned that hobby before. The human leader slips to the back and takes a pause and the rest of the pack that are rested can take turns then, just like our feathered friends. I always pause and watch them in V-formation.
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I love that boardwalk, it’s quite lovely. Canada geese get a bad rap, they are kind of an annoying goose but still……….the goslings are so cute
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It is a very scenic boardwalk Susan, especially in the Summer with the pleasure boat and freighter traffic. They go so close to each other sometimes. I hate how people dislike the geese – I think their objection is they’re messy, rather than that they are feisty, but they are fractious because they band together to protect their flocks and especially their mate/young; their devotion is admirable. I’m hoping to see goslings the next few weeks, the first “batch” anyway. They are so cute when they are tiny balls of fluff!
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Great pics, Linda!
Be sure, when you are around water, to use high-end UVA and UVB blocking sunglasses… or your retina can get damaged.
Another 2nd thing to use (on your skin) to repel ticks and mosquitoes is picaridan. Amazon sells it.
I’m just not going to go out in wildlife as much any more. There’s far to many ticks increasing in numbers in our area. I’m going to rely more on the many older pics that i’v taken. I have too much arthritis now, and I sure don’t need more from tick bites.
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Thank you Tom – a calm day on the Canal water gave me some nice reflections!
I have jotted down this info as well. Thank you. I had an eye doctor appointment two weeks ago and cancelled it due to the severe weather we had that day – it was expected earlier in the day and did not come through until 2:12 a.m. and in my city we had the EF-1 tornado, yes 2-3 miles from me, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Life is too short to worry more than I already do. I am going to reschedule the appointment in the next few weeks and will ask about these glasses. I have transition lenses in my eyeglasses, but currently the eye doctor is monitoring me for cataracts and I have to see him twice a year, so he has not changed my prescription in the last two years because of this, but I always got a new prescription yearly.
I am with you with this abundance of ticks. If I can’t stay on a cement or asphalt path, I doubt I am going into any wooded areas right now. They say go to the center of the trail. I’m not comfortable with that either to be honest. I have some places I go where I can avoid the grass altogether – that may be the way to go for the foreseeable future. You are smart to avoid woodsy areas as well – you definitely don’t need more health issues. You had one major issue recently with the pancreatis. We have all these rainy days as well – the mosquitoes will also be in abundance. Four out of five days this week are rainy and we’re getting the tail end of this bad weather this evening, 50-60 mph winds and torrential rain. I hope you remain unscathed by this weather as well. This weather, among other things, is not what I envisioned for my “golden years” – the weather was perfect all those days I was sitting in a classroom or working – I worry about the weather, my walking regimen and toting the camera days are few and far between this Spring. You always have your parrots and fish for your macros photography as well as delving into your archives.
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I had cataract surgery. They put new lenses in and then you can see like an eagle and don’t need glasses. I’m so glad i did it!!!!
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I have heard about that advantage you will have post-cataract surgery Tom – that sounds wonderful! I admit that when I’m on the computer, I have every website enlarged to 150% and the same with Word. I draft all my posts in Word. Also reading is getting a little more difficult. It will be wonderful not to wear glasses. I got glasses on my 7th birthday, but I wore contact for many years. I stopped wearing contacts when I began working from home.
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Miss Linda……………………It is nice to see the ducks and geese at a pond in a park……………………………where I live now off of Eureka and Telegraph Rd…………………………the poor geese and ducks have to walk around cars and traffic ……………….they have to be used to it………………………..it’s not very peaceful that’s for sure…………….
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Yes, it was peaceful there that morning for sure Ann Marie. I know you miss your apartment complex and that nice little pond with the ducks, occasional heron and the geese, including Mr. and Mrs. Meany. That’s a shame about your geese and ducks at your new place as you know they’re going to get hurt or killed and especially once the ducklings and goslings come along and the whole family wants to cross a busy street. Both Eureka and Telegraph Road are busy. I avoid both if possible, but Telegraph Road especially as there are lots of accidents.
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Another lovely walk in the park, even if the colors weren’t cooperative.
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Yes, this park is very pretty Eilene and the sun streaming down did make it look nice. There are a lot of old Oak trees there and they are gorgeous when they all turn gold. I suspect our hot Summer they are forecasting for this year will likely cause the same problem. I know you had a drought problem there. We are finally drought free as we have had a lot of rain, often torrential, the last month. It will help the marshes, many which had dried up by last Fall.
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Lots of great photos, Linda and thanks for the new terms. I did know that they take turns being the leader. Do you know why one side of the V is always longer than the other? Because there are more geese on that side. LOL!!! That’s a joke my youngest daughter told my husband when she was little. It was so funny to see his reaction. I’ll always remember it.
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Thank you Ruth! I learned those new terms and had to share them with everyone. I am always amazed as the different young animal and bird names out there. I could never remember them all, but there is a whole website dedicated to learning the names of wildlife offspring. I laughed at your joke as you fooled me too – I was going to ponder on that and figure it had something to do with the wind. 🙂
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