Goose Families

Back in June I met a couple families of Canada Geese. These pictures were taken on the same day and at the same location (Washington Valley Reservoir), but one set of goslings was clearly more mature than the other. In the 1st picture the goslings are far smaller than their parental unit and are a nearly uniformly gray in color.

June 28, 2022 at Washington Valley Reservoir
Photo 211849901, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

In the next picture the juveniles are much closer to the adult in size and have the feather markings of an adult (though those markings look slightly washed out). If I had seen these juveniles in the absence of an adult, I might have interpreted them as adults and attributed the duller color to bad lighting.

June 28, 2022 at Washington Valley Reservoir
Photo 211850102, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Clearly these 2 goose families weren't on exactly the same breeding schedule.


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