Goslings 2002

 

Gos Day -- the day the goslings first appear down the street -- is a big day for us.  It heralds gos season, when we get to watch them transform from yellow-headed pom-poms into awkward gray dinosaurs, and eventually into geese.  This year I'm keeping a photo diary.  Click a thumbnail to see the picture; the most recent is first.

 

The Count: we are careful to count each new group only once as we keep a running total.  We judge by clutch size and gos age, so two groups of six can hopefully be told apart by the size and color of the goslings.  Of course, we can't be positive of the total until they are bigger and start grouping together, when it will be possible to count -- and photograph -- them all at once.

 

(By the way: the first year we started counting we saw twelve goslings.  The next year, twenty five.  Last year, fifty six.  Mathematically that means we should expect over a hundred this year, but we'll see what happens.)

 

4/29/02

4/27/02

this group of fifteen is out every day now. Probably unphotoed group from 4/24(Tentative new total: ninety two)

4/25/02

bigger and bigger

4/24/02

verified this group of twenty-one. Also spotted a new group of thirteen, but got no picture. (New total: ninety)

4/24/02

fifty-four goses out at once today!

4/22/02

losing yellow color and necks starting to grow

4/21/02

seven more tiny ones (Tentative new total: seventy seven)

4/19/02

A new group of twenty one. As far as we could tell, this really is a single group. (Tentative new total: seventy)

4/18/02

another new group of four, standing next to the original group of four.

4/18/02

...and a new group of eight just nearby. (New total: forty nine)

4/17/02

a new batch of seven, not including a group of four that I have no photo of.

4/17/02

...and another new batch of six, still very yellow. (New total: thirty seven)

4/15/02

spotted this goose sitting in an awkward pose...

4/15/02

...she stood up to reveal...

4/15/02

...nine new goslings! (New total: twenty)

4/13/02

closeup of one of the original six. Yellow stripes are gone.

4/12/02

five new goses spotted. (New total: eleven)

4/12/02

4/11/02

Gos Day - 4/9/02

You can tell how young these are because they still have yellow stripes on their wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4/27/02

this group of fifteen is out every day now. Probably unphotoed group from 4/24(Tentative new total: ninety two)

4/25/02

bigger and bigger

4/24/02

verified this group of twenty-one. Also spotted a new group of thirteen, but got no picture. (New total: ninety)

4/24/02

fifty-four goses out at once today!

4/22/02

losing yellow color and necks starting to grow

4/21/02

seven more tiny ones (Tentative new total: seventy seven)

4/19/02

A new group of twenty one. As far as we could tell, this really is a single group. (Tentative new total: seventy)

4/18/02

another new group of four, standing next to the original group of four.

4/18/02

...and a new group of eight just nearby. (New total: forty nine)

4/17/02

a new batch of seven, not including a group of four that I have no photo of.

4/17/02

...and another new batch of six, still very yellow. (New total: thirty seven)

4/15/02

spotted this goose sitting in an awkward pose...

4/15/02

...she stood up to reveal...

4/15/02

...nine new goslings! (New total: twenty)

4/13/02

closeup of one of the original six. Yellow stripes are gone.

4/12/02

five new goses spotted. (New total: eleven)

4/12/02

4/11/02

Gos Day - 4/9/02

You can tell how young these are because they still have yellow stripes on their wings.