Goose family update

Six days after our last visit, my husband and I visited Cavendish Grove again to see if the goose family was still around. The little pond with the island was now empty. The nest was abandoned with no sign of the geese.

Meanwhile we’d had three days of heavy rain. Excess water flows from the little pond into the basin below. We decided to have our lunch in the Grove and as we set out our simple fare, we saw a goose family emerge from behind one of the several islands in the basin. This pair had six goslings, one more than we had seen originally.

After my last post about the geese, John from John’s Island suggested the goose going back on the nest meant there were more eggs to hatch. John was probably right. You can check out John’s blog 

here.

If these were the same birds, the male, the larger of the two adults, had no trouble swimming in spite of his injured foot which was visible as he stood on guard near the nest.

The adults left the water and the goslings followed. 

They had more than doubled in size in the last six days. They pecked at the grass and were more adventurous than they had been the previous week. If they strayed too far however, the nearest parent went their way. Both parents were equally vigilant, keeping watch for all intruders.

As we ate lunch, 

we watched the geese in the water again, in a row behind a parent. 

As the parents tipped bottoms up in the water to feed, the goslings did the same. We left them,

hoping to be back another time before they take to wing.