First, and foremost, all eight (8) goslings were chasing their mom around and feasting on the grass beside the pond in the warm morning sun by the time I got there, so they survived another night. Phew! I’m not sure if they even go back to the island any more. Also in attendance were a few mallards, a slew of wood ducks, a hooded merganser pair briefly, and two new canada geese pairs. I don’t know if now that the goslings have hatched that the parents are just less adamant about chasing away the interlopers, or the interlopers are just more adamant about floating around on the pond. There are still chases, but none result in anyone flying off anymore, as was always the case before.
The big surprise guest, however, was a magnificent great blue heron, who was spooked and took off before I realized it was there. Dang!
Other fun new sightings this morning include a gray catbird and a brown thrasher.
Second chances at better photos were offered by a northern flicker and an eastern phoebe.
I didn’t want to hog the pond and had a hope of spotting another heron, so I went down to the the river to see what I could see, and there was another family of canada geese that felt compelled to abandon a little patch of grass on the far side and cross the river with 3 goslings in tow. It looked like a harrowing adventure for the little ones, who appeared to struggle to stay close to mom and in her slipstream, but I am relieved to report that they all made it safely to calmer waters on the east side. Phew again!
Anyway, pictures of the catbird, thrasher, flicker, phoebe, and many more are online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewdressel/albums/72157713703616688
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 