Goosle Goslings!

YAY! The Goosles have 2 goslings!

I arrived at Eagle Pond with my mother, and we were walking around to visit Mr. Goosle; as we reached the far side of the pond (from the road) I heard not only his usual chuntering noise, but also the honk of a female Egyptian Goose. Mrs. Goosle?! I picked up my pace and reached the gap in the reeds to find not only Mr. & Mrs. Goosle (reunited after she has been absent for weeks) but also 2 little goslings! They're not 1-day-old tiny, but I reckon that they're probably 3 or 4 days old. They're still all wobbly and fall over a lot.

They're so adorable: we spent a while there in the morning, and returned in the afternoon when I attached the 70-200mm (eep, in spite of the pollen in the air...). I'd forgotten how heart-melting their little peeping noise is... *Melts* The water level is very low, and while Mrs. and one of the goslings got on to the island without too much trouble, Mr. and the gosling in his charge circled the island about 5 times with Mrs. honking desperately, before he finally got onto the island leaving the gosling in the water. It quite quickly scrambled up some roots onto the island; his fussing had prevented it from trying all along...

In other excellent news, Mrs. Mallard on the boating pond still has 10 ducklings, and they're now much bigger and more active, alert, and boisterous.

p.s. This is Mr. Goosle keeping watch; Mrs. and the other gosling were just to the right.