... with one eye open.

By Chamaeleo

Egyptian Goose: Mr. Goosle Holding the Fort

So much for not blipping Egyptian geese in preparation for the arrival of the goslings...

This is Mr. Goosle (...); he was looking very handsome in the sun this morning, and then the sky clouded over so this is the most appealing and bright photo that I've taken today... He was just called "Mr." (and his wife "Mrs."), but when I said "Mr. Goose" to him he grunted which sounded like a correction:
"Hello Mr. Goose"
"Lll"
"Goosle?"

Anyway, he is very dapper (esp. up close where his plumage is more varied and detailed than it looks from afar): there are quite a lot of Egyptian geese around in London (2 on Wandsworth Common, 2 more on Mount Pond on Clapham Common, and there were loads more over winter...), but he is a particularly beautiful specimen with wonderfully coppery-brown hues. His wife is also a pretty example, but it is their characters that make them a particularly appealing and captivating pair: she is calm and collected, whereas he is seriously fussy and vocal about it. He chunters and makes a funny hissy chattering noise. They are excellent parents: they are more attentive than most parents (perhaps older and more experienced than the others I've observed) and usually bracket the goslings between them. Last year they hatched 18 gosling in two broods, and they lost (only) 1 in each brood. The pair on Tooting Bec Common (very nearby) had 8 goslings and none survived...

Here he is holding the fort on Eagle Pond: Mrs. has disappeared and I'm assuming that she is sitting on a nest because the last time I saw them before she disappeared they were obviously (exhibitionistically) "trying for goslings". I've been trying to follow him to see whether he'll lead me to where she's nesting, but he's more savvy than that, and I've still not found her. I'm visiting the pond regularly, and will try to make it daily from later on this month because I want to see the goslings when they're brand new...

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