The goslings jumped this morning at about 7:29 AM. After watching them yesterday afternoon, we thought the jump might occur pretty early today, but we were still surprised at how quickly it happened! Within just a few minutes of MG’s departure, all of the goslings had joined their parents on the ground.
Our camera operators were only able to find five of them, so we headed into the underbrush to find #6 hidden under a log. We tried reuniting little six with its family, but it appeared to have an injured leg and was not able to swim well enough to rejoin them. We retrieved it from the creek. Dr. Laura will be taking a look at it this afternoon. We don’t know how badly it was injured but are hopeful for a good outcome.
It was fascinating to watch Mother and Father Goose gather their young and take them to the stream. The water was flowing more swiftly this year than last year, and the geese ended up near a riffle next to a gravel bar downstream from the nest. The parents corralled all of their young and got them out of the water and on to the bar. After 30 to 40 minutes, they crossed over a calmer stretch of water and led their young back upstream to the pool below N2B, where they are as I type this. Make way for goslings, everyone!
We’ll post some video here for anyone who missed the jump, but in the meantime, our video makers have captured almost every moment of the leap! A thousand thanks to our volunteer camera operators, videomakers, and moderators for finding and sharing such special moments with us. What a morning! 🐣
Videos
The Raptor Resource Project