Sometimes I get images of birds that appear to have four legs or two heads but this time I smiled to see a little fluff ball.
Cape Barren Goose
I was using the car as a mobile hide (to avoid disturbing the birds) which meant the shooting angle hides the legs of the preening gosling standing behind its sibling, which is a bit of a spoiler.
Cape Barren Geese form pairs that mate for life. The male builds the nest amongst grassy tussocks and lines it with down, the female incubates the eggs and after 35 days the young hatch. These little guys are not long out of the nest.
Cape Barren Goose – grazing goslings
These littlies must be amongst the cutest hatchlings on the planet. There are usually between 4 and 7 Cape Barren Geese in a clutch and it is testimony to the fierce guarding of the parent birds that so many are able to survive.
Cape Barren Goose
Hatchlings are often difficult to photograph as their downy feathers are incredibly fine and move with even the gentlest of breezes. There was a chill wind when I was shooting these guys so I had to make sure my shutter speed was as high as possible, which meant upping the ISO in the less than perfect lighting conditions.
Cape Barren Goose
Aren’t their legs interesting? Their dark grey legs will become bright pinkish-red as they grow older, their ceres will become bright green and their eyes will turn reddish-pink. They will gradually lose the camouflaging stripes that help them hide amongst the grasses and will become predominantly pale grey.
Cape Barren Goose
As I was a fair distance from the birds the parents rarely looked towards me but when one did glance across with a watchful eye I quickly pressed the shutter button.
When I photograph birds it’s essential to me that I don’t disturb them. I like seeing them go about their daily business and if this means missing a shot so be it. I take what I call ‘heart photos’ for those days and commit them to memory rather than memory cards.
Happy birding, Kim
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Kim, they are so so cute. Your group of grazing goslings is superb, what patience you have to get such delightful shots.
Thank you Margot! I have heaps of patience for children and birds but put me two back at the supermarket and I’m likely to abandon the trolley 🙂
Such cute babies Kim….
Thinking about baby birds the geese, swans and ducks seem to have much cuter hatchlings than many of the other species. I think they’re super cute too 🙂
Love the gosling chicks, Kim, especially the spherical one(s)! Dumplings is a great name.
Thank you Elizabeth, dumplings are definitely one of the the island’s beautiful sights.
Oh how enchanting. The sort of memories that should be taken out and examined on dark days and darker nights. The sort of memories that drive away the darkness.
My heart melted today – thank you.
That is a lovely thought EC.
Gorgeous! I love the little fluff ball – maybe they should be called ‘dumplings’…..
Hi Georgina, I shall think of them as dumplings from now on!
excellent photos kim, lucky you had a skillful driver that day
love
glenn
I did have a skillful driver that day! Thank you x