... with one eye open.

By Chamaeleo

Egyptian Geese: flapping fledgling

I visited the cootlinglets on Wandsworth Common this afternoon; they remained very much on and around their nest which made photographing them rather tricky (the nest is in the shade, and not close to the edge of the pond), but it was nice to see them. I left when their mother settled down on top of them so that they just had their little red, tufty heads poking out from under her feathers... There were also some nice hybrid mallards at the pond; they'd have been my alternative blip.

It started drizzling so I went for coffee between the commons; when it showed no signs of stopping, I decided that I was going to visit the goslings anyway, and am glad that I did. It was only dripping, so I just sheltered under trees which kept me dry enough.
The parents now seem, mostly, to have broken away from their fledglings: the father actively drives them away whenever he notices them, and the mother seems indifferent but doesn't mind when they approach her. It seems sad because the fledglings still try to approach their parents only to get chased aggressively away by the father...
Today was super exciting because I saw three of the fledglings flying quite adeptly: the father had driven three of them away from the pond out onto the open grass of the common, but they just took off and flew back around to the pond and landed on the surface very confidently. It was a wonderful sight!
I got a few pictures of them flying, but it was grey and drizzly, so even on ISO400 the images aren't nearly as crisp as I'd like. I was more pleased with this photo, and reckon it shows how mature and beautiful they've become.

I imagine I'll be blipping a flying fledgling very soon.

p.s. Here is a gosling taken 25 days ago, one taken 37 days ago, and another taken 58 days ago.

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