WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY

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.