Monday, May 19, 2008

Meet the goslings...

Every year for the last few years, a pair of geese has spent the spring on my in-laws' property. My in-laws named them Gregory and Grace. With the exception of last year, they have always tried to raise a small family, with varying degrees of success - the coyote and bobcat generally do all in their power to frustrate those efforts.

The latest batch of goslings hatched last week and are now paraded around for all to see. Grace and Gregory are quite at home and as long as we don't get uncomfortably close, they're quite willing for us to inspect their family.

I took some pics of them yesterday (you may have to click on the photos for the full-sized ones to see them properly).

Here they are down on the lower lawn:



and here they are later near the llama field:



I had gone to see them with my m-i-l when the llamas heard us (they're very curious about everything) and came to see what we were doing. Grace and Gregory were NOT thrilled by this turn of events. They quickly marshalled the family and moved away:



though one little one was a little behind and had to scoot to catch up as the llamas got closer:



Dusty got distracted by another noise, but baby Moonbeam (now 2) and older sister Elvira (3) seemed disappointed the visitors had chosen to move on:



Instead of heading back to the lake, G & G decided to explore the driveway with their brood:



Later yesterday evening, we saw them all again - back by the dock. There were a few anxious minutes as we counted goslings and for a while, could only see four. But when they retreated to the water and embarked once more, we noticed all five were there :)

With entertainment like this, who needs television?

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch

No comments: