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Special thanks and appreciation to Mary Lou Simms for taking us yesterday on a vicarious journey to a special place with a heart for geese.
Fortunately, the little community in Alabama is not the only location in the US with a soft spot for our feathered friends.
From a suburb of San Francisco, California, comes this amazing video shot yesterday:
The wonderful people of this town placed a live web cam on the roof where the geese nested and five goslings hatched. This, so that many people could enjoy the happy and exciting event up close and personal -- without disturbing the geese.
Some of us were on pins and needles yesterday as "Mama goose" took her sweet time in deciding exactly when she and her husband would "take the leap" and lead the little ones to the pond. Obviously, from the video above, the family eventually "flew the coop" and with some human help, found their way to the water.
Call me a total mooch, but these few web cam videos from places and people who love their geese make my heart sing! (And judging from the commercial advertisements, one suspects the videographers are able to recoup some of what they spend. Hats off to them!)
Unfortunately, all this eventually brings us back to New York -- and an entirely different attitude towards geese (especially any who dare to nest).
Certainly, we will not be seeing any "live web cams" here of hatching goslings and proud goose parents.
Any nesting geese in NYC have to be very careful to "hide" and just hope no humans see them.
So far, I am only aware of one potentially nesting goose pair here -- and I have yet to actually see the female goose or her nest as they appear to be well hidden and away from public access. The only reason I am guessing to a possible goose nest is the observation of what seems a "sentry" gander in the same location for the past couple of weeks. (Will not say where for obvious reasons.)
Ganders are extremely protective and watchful over their mates and developing offspring.
In fact, according to information read on one of the live cam sites, the ganders usually stake out the walking paths to nearby water ponds as soon as goslings hatch and lead the mom and babies to them shortly thereafter.
Yesterday, for example, the proud papa gander in California jumped on the roof and seemed to tell Mama goose that it was "OK to go!"
Canada geese are truly extraordinary animals and it is sad that in New York City, most of us are deprived of the chance of seeing a mated pair hatch and raise their offspring --despite still having resident geese here.
We have to search out the Internet to find such.
For those who missed the excitement of the new goose family in California, there is still this live web cam from Edmonton, Canada:
Apparently, since it is colder in Canada than here, these eggs were laid the first week in April and should presumably hatch the first week in May. For now, Mama is constantly and dutifully keeping her eggs warm -- with an occasional visit and encouragement from her devoted hubby.
Meanwhile, back here in NYC, my friend, Lianna who monitors the Boat Lake in Central Park just called to tell me that there was a dirty diaper left near the area the few ducks usually stay.
Blame the diaper on the ducks (or geese)!
Obviously (and sadly) we are not San Francisco or Edmonton, Canada. -- PCA
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