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It appears that Hansel and Greta, the bereaved parents of the three ill-fated goslings from the Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park have finally given up all hope for their last lost youngster and left the Reservoir -- presumably to join with other geese and find better food sources.
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They however, deserve great respect and admiration for not having abandoned Remy, their last gosling, when it was abundantly clear to them she would not ultimately survive.
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The reason for proclaiming the above is based upon a visit to the Boat Lake in Central Park yesterday and finally seeing the family with two goslings there.
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These goslings hatched on June 28th -- more than three weeks after the three goslings at the Reservoir.
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When arriving to the area of Bow Bridge yesterday, I saw, what appeared to be a flock of four adult geese in the water.
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But, as they swam closer, two of the geese were slightly smaller and one had bits of down still on her head. It was clear this was the family of four.
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I was able to get many photos of the family as they were never more than a couple of feet apart from each other, whether on water or land. The parents were extremely watchful and protective of their young ones.
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The nearly seven-week-old, Boat Lake goslings are almost fully grown, robust and strong, with developed flight feathers and adult coloring -- including clearly defined chin straps and pure white bottoms and bellies. They appear ready to fly.
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Tragically, though she was far older than the Boat Lake goslings, we did not see such rapid (and normal) development in Remy, the last gosling at the Reservoir. On the contrary, Remy was only slightly larger than mallards and was still covered in mostly yellowish down with colors only starting to change and wings beginning to develop when she suddenly perished ten days ago.
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Most startling however, regarding the Reservoir goose family, was that the behavior of the three goslings (and parents, to some degree) was never consistent with what we almost always see in goose families.
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I tried to attribute the atypical behavior to parents possibly being very young or goslings being unusually adventurous and independent. But, all along I had concerns about what seemed the slow growth and development of the hatchlings (though only having witnessed two other goose families in the past to compare it to). I guess I didn't want to believe anything was seriously wrong.
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But, it is very clear now that something definitely affected or interfered with the development of the Reservoir goslings -- probably while they were still in the eggs. And it is also apparent that the parents were aware of something wrong, but they obviously could not know what. Out of duty and devotion, the parents stayed with their weakened offspring despite all the odds against them.
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Some will disagree, but I'm personally convinced that the developing babies were deprived of oxygen while in the eggs -- something that occurs in egg addling. (When "successful," egg addling results in suffocation of the developing embryo.)
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One thing we do know is that this failure to thrive had absolutely nothing to do with raccoons, snapping turtles or any other animal predator.
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The fact is, these three goslings were doomed from the very moment they hatched.
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Though predators may have contributed to or hastened actual deaths in the end, the goslings would never have survived through the other challenges of nature. It's quite likely they never would have been able to fly as their bodies lacked the strength and robustness apparent in goslings far younger than them.
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That one gosling survived for two months suffering impairment was perhaps a miracle in itself. We can only hope these pitiful little babies got to enjoy a little of life -- though this had to be ultimately far more heart wrenching for the parents than had the eggs never hatched at all.
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Some have doubted my claims about egg addling at the Central Park Reservoir, but as previously noted, more than 30 goose eggs have been laid at the Reservoir over the past two years and only three hatched. Moreover, two nesting hens died from unknown illness this year shortly after laying eggs.
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And we now know now that something obviously affected and/or interfered with the development of the three Reservoir hatchlings -- something not due to animal predation.
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Returning to the Boat lake goose family, it should be noted that "Lady," (the Mother goose), laid ten eggs before these two finally hatched. The first clutch of five eggs were lost in rain storm. A second clutch of three eggs disappeared. Finally, Lady apparently laid two more and these eggs hatched even to the great surprise of a dedicated goose watcher. (Guess is, that it was not anticipated by Geese Police either that the hen would lay more eggs. -- These parents were very determined.) I credit my friend, Liliana for insuring that Lady and her "Man" were always well nourished even through the harsh winter. It's amazing the hen did not take ill for all the egg laying and forgoing of food.
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I share this important information in order that we not seek natural explanation for why these goslings and two nesting hens ultimately died at Reservoir this summer and spring as there was nothing "natural" about them. While we may not know exactly what happened and when, we can eliminate blame for actual deaths to normal animal predations (as the Central Park Conservancy tried to do in "explaining" the death of Floozie, the second nesting and dead goose).
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Its of course possible the two deceased nesting hens lacked proper nutrition and fat reserves for nesting rigors. Its also possible goslings suffered developmental impairment while in the eggs due to poor nutrition of the hen and/or genetic mutation.
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But, adding everything up over the years, my personal deduction for such wide scale destruction is egg addling (in addition to nearly year-round goose harassment in Central Park).
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Too many losses over the past two years to merely attribute to the whims of nature.
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Over the past two days, I have visited nearly all of the Central Park watercourses and have been shocked to find barely any ducks or geese on any of them with the exception of the Boat Lake. (There are also three other geese at the Boat Lake.)
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It was only a few years ago when Central Park lakes and ponds would be filled with hundreds of mallards this time of year and many dozens of geese. That there are less than ten geese in all of Central Park now and only a few dozen ducks is positively stunning and unexplainable. Apparently, as the geese go, so go most of the ducks.
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I (like others) did not want to believe that "my" park would embark on a program of zero tolerance for Canada geese, but it appears from all indications, that is exactly what is slowly happening in Central Park. If the policy is to destroy all known goose eggs, then that alone will result in the elimination of all resident geese within five years or so as geese almost always return to their places of hatching.
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While encouraging to realize two healthy goslings hatched this year due to the sheer determination and extraordinary efforts of the parents, the fact is, two are not enough to carry on the species over the ensuing years.
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The writing is on the wall for Canada geese, not just in Central Park, but all NYC parks.
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The question is, is it also on the wall for ducks and other wildlife of our city parks?
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Among this morning's emails is one from the Central Park Conservancy boasting of their upcoming "Film Festival" in addition to various tours and improvement of the Reservoir running path.
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But, there is no mention of wildlife of any kind nor the nearly year round harassment and destruction of the young of Canada geese.
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Perhaps it is ultimately what is not written that ultimately shouts volumes. -- PCA
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