Geese

Last week we were walking up to the Greek place to get some lunch when we saw a goose sitting on her nest down in the drainage pond next to the road. It was kind of an unexpected sight and we found ourselves going back each day to check on her and her mate. Here are some pictures I took over the next week and a half:

Sometimes the father goose would hang out in the grass.

Yesterday when we stopped by the mother goose had left the nest, probably to do a little eating and grooming. The eggs are still there though.

And the father goose was keeping a watchful eye on the nest.

Today Mrs. Goose is back on the nest again.

The water level has really gone down quite a bit from where it was when I first saw them. Their little island is a lot bigger now. I hope this is not an issue for them.

I found out that the female with lay one egg at a time every 1-2 days and the total number of eggs is usually about 5. Once she's finished laying all of her eggs, she'll stay on the nest pretty much full time until they hatch about a month later. This site contains all the information anyone would probably ever want to know about Canadian geese. When I first saw her sitting on the nest, I was all excited at the prospect of seeing one day old goslings during the next couple of days. But now it looks like it might be a few more weeks so I guess I'll just have to be patient.