New Arrivals at Striebel Pond

I've been walking at Striebel Pond. I do it for exercise but I can't lie, I also find it very interesting especially in the Spring. Right now lots of new babies are being born and the first ones I want to talk about are the geese.

As far as I can tell there is only one family of them. The family consists of a mom, a dad, and seven children. The children all seem pretty well behaved and they're growing really fast.

The first time I noticed them was such a surprise. I was walking along around the 10th of May and all of a sudden I noticed something hissing at me. It was a big ol' goose and he was warning me that his family was nearby and that I should be careful. He was and still is very solicitous of them.

He did let me go ahead and get a close up of some of the youngsters though.

Two days later, it seemed like the goslings were already growing but Mom and Dad were just as watchful.
One big difference, though, was that the children seemed to be starting to spread there wings so to speak. In other words, they were spreading out a little big - not clinging quite as close to their protective parents.

A couple of days ago I watched as the parents got a few feet away from all the babies. The kids were oblivious as kids are wont to be.

Although the parents were a little distance away, they watched the babies (and me) VERY closely.
About the time that it was apparent to me that I was getting on their nerves, I heard a deep, quiet sound come from one of them and all the babies scampered through the tall grass as fast as they could to get to them.

I saw them again today. They were as friendly as ever and as busy as ever with all the children working hard to learn to be big geese. And truly, I think they look older already.

The whole family was there including Mr. Stare-A-Lot.

I don't blame him though. I know that, as a parent, he has to be ever vigilant especially around crazy ladies with cameras that always try to get just a little closer than he'd like.