... with one eye open.

By Chamaeleo

Egyptian Geese: droopy wings

Back blip. Goslings Part 1 of 2...
The goslings are now looking very developed: slightly patchy little geese really. Their down is now almost entirely covered by contour feathers (except for their still fluffy-looking backs and some patches on their wings).
They have been overheating this weekend: they have been sitting still and panting a lot which is cute but a little bit sad. Only a few of them seem to have realised that it is cooler in the reeds; the parents stick to the shade, but most of the goslings lie panting on bare ground in the open...
The really cute thing, though, is that their newly feathered wings seem to be too large and heavy for them now. They try to fold them neatly like the adults, but it only lasts a few seconds before they start drooping down and hang limply again. The goslings then realise and rearrange themselves, only for the process to start again... This gosling tucked its wings up about 3 seconds before I took the picture; the following shot (another couple of seconds later) had the wing-tips almost resting on the ground, but was blurry because it had noticed and started rearranging its wings again.
Aw...
They are actively trying to strengthen their wing muscles though; frequently flapping them and even doing little "flappy-dances" from time to time when they move off (they sort of hop or bounce along and flap their wings wildly for a few exuberant seconds). It is absolutely killing!

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