Look! A bird!

[Langue_doc]

Bird mystery--a couple of weeks ago, the goose family had five goslings. Last Sunday, I heard that only four goslings had been sighted the previous Thursday (I saw five on Wednesday). Yesterday, there were six goslings in the family, presumably the same one, because of the size of the youngins. Ebird reports for the same dates confirm my sightings, so how did the two new goslings, also reported on Ebird, that are the same size/age of the other four materialize? Were they hiding when I and other birders reported having seen five, and then at least one other birder reported having seen four? One of the ebirders suggested that they could have been adopted, but if so, where are the parents, and how did they get orphaned/stranded?

[FishProf]

Geese will form a creche so you may be seeing a mix of 2+ broods.

[Langue_doc]

That might account for the extra goslings. Last year though, the goose family raised its two goslings all the way from around May through October when all four of them were more or less the same size. This was in the same area as this year's brood. The mallard family wasn't so fortunate as the three duckings dwindled to two, then one, and then none. Snapping turtles in the pond get to the chicks. Mama duck didn't seem too intelligent as she ran toward me on one occassion, last duckling in tow, looking for a handout. There was only mama duck just a few days later.

[FishProf]

snapping turtles are adroit at picking off the last duckling/gosling in the line.  A little ripple, and then gone.  Parents tend not to notice.

[Langue_doc]

The goose family is down to five goslings. Four of the goslings, presumably from the original brood, looked about three or four days older than the fifth, which must have been the sibling of the missing adoptee. I've seen snapping turtles in that pond that were more than a foot across. Poor gosling!

[apl68]

Just this morning I saw that the geese there had a couple of young that I'd never seen before.  I've seen little ducks there before, but not geese.

[Sea_Ice]

Screeching Great Crested Flycatcher fledgling, chasing a parent.  Many years they've lost the early nestlings to crows, so this was a real delight!