northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's a family (presumably) of Canada Geese I met a couple months ago, this time at Duke Farms. If they've all survived (even at Duke Farms there are predators), the goslings would be much larger today. They probably look sorta like adults by now, just grayer and a little smaller. But at this age they're cute little guys. I count 5 goslings here, which seems to be right about in the middle for a Canada Goose brood; 2-8 eggs are typical. Canada Geese are fairly diligent parents as animals go; they may have a role in raising their kids for as long as a year. Certainly what they're doing seems to be working; the population of the Canada Geese has been rising for decades. May 18, 2021 at Duke Farms

Here's a second set of Canada Goose goslings I saw at Sourland Mountain Preserve in May. Yesterday I showed a pair of much more mature goslings ; these goslings are obviously younger. Apparently Canada Geese don't breed at exactly the the same time, though I have to admit I don't know the ages of either sets of goslings. If all goes according to plan, about 70 days after hatching Canada Goose goslings will both look like adults and be able to fly. Right now though both sets of goslings are under the supervision of adult geese. Both sets of goslings live around the little pond near the Sourland Mountain Preserve parking lot off of East Mountain Road. Besides the geese, the pond (despite being small) were home to Mallards, frogs, turtles, a watersnake, and various dragonflies. (There were a surprising number of photography opportunities for such a small area.) May 27, 2021 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 133210379, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

A couple weeks ago at the Sourland Mountain Preserve, I met these juvenile Canada Geese siblings swimming near a parent. They're still a little less than half the size of an adult, but they've lost the yellow feathers they had when they were newly hatched. This is one of the stages a Canada Goose goes through on the way to adulthood. Although they're clearly on the path towards adult feathering, the feathers still look pretty fluffy to me. I suspect these feathers are geared more for warmth than flight. Though they swim well now, they probably won't be able to fly until they have their adult plumage. May 27, 2021 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 133210217, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)