The huge news in Estabrook Park this morning is that the female goose on the pond has finally chosen her nesting site on the island and has started the long process of laying and incubating her eggs. Woo Hoo! When I saw one lone goose on the water, I was hoping that this would be the reason why, and it took me a while to find her, but here she is. Phew!
This is two to three weeks earlier than in recent years. In 2021, it happened on March 22, in 2022, it happened on March 28, and I was in South Holland for March of 2023, so I don’t have an exact date. This is a new spot for her, too. In previous years, she was at the southern tip of the island, and in 2021 another goose nested at the northern tip, but this year she’s about 2/3 of the way north along the western edge. In any case, if everything goes okay, we’ve got 32 to 48 days to go until gosling time! Yay!
In other news, this red squirrel was much more interested in me than the one I showed you yesterday.
Finally, here’s a second look at the raccoon from later yesterday morning and looking a lot more relaxed after the sun had warmed things up a bit.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 