When we arrived at Cavendish Gove and exited the car, a tree on an island in the pond had noisy grackles and blackbirds competing for loudest bird in the area. By the time I could take a photo, there were only a few left in the tree.
We had a pleasant surprise too. One pair of Canada geese had six goslings. Already this spring, one nest hadn’t any survivors. Over the past number of years though, my husband and I have seen two sets of goslings in the Grove, so we shouldn’t have been surprised to see one goose family there this year, which was great!
Canada geese are such wonderful parents. It is always fascinating to watch them, as both parents stay involved with the goslings, unlike some bird species. One parent leads the goslings around and the other stays behind, protecting the young ones from potential predators or from straying away.
As we watched, one adult led the six balls of yellow fluff and dabbled on the way, the goslings behind watching the upended bottom of the parent.
After a short interval among the grasses along the shoreline that adult headed back into the pond followed by the goslings and the other parent. One gosling had taken the lesson seriously and dabbled a bit too. They are fast learners.
In the nest area, both parents were settling in as the young ones did the same.
Meanwhile, Gadwalls and Mallards swam around the pond, dabbling as well.
They co-exist nicely with the geese as we’ve seen before in the Grove.
Double dabblers: Gadwall left, Canada Goose right
Elsewhere in the park, the Cavendish sandspit has been closed to visitors for the summer to protect the nesting Piping Plovers I mentioned a few posts previously. An article by the island’s CBC station can be seen here.
