Monday, February 6, 2006

First geese of the season!

We don't need any mythical groundhogs to tell us that spring is on the way. We know it's coming as soon as we see the first Canada geese visit our pond. I was enjoying a fresh chocolate chip muffin this morning when I heard the familiar honking, and two geese came in for a landing on our frozen pond. Rather than splashing down, they skidded across the ice. What a wonderful way to start the morning! (for both me and the geese)

Every year around this time, the geese are scouting around for a place to have their babies. I'm not sure where they chose last year, but it was somewhere nearby, because they brought the babies to the pond every few days after they were hatched. They are such wonderful parents! There were nine fluffy little goslings the very first time they visited, and there were still nine when the babies were almost as big as their parents. (I wish domestic geese and ducks were such good parents.) Still, it will take them a while to decide where to build their nest, then a few weeks to lay the eggs and another month for the eggs to hatch ... and at some point in April, we will hopefully see another gaggle of beautiful, fluffy goslings walk out of our woods and stride onto the pond for their first swim.

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