Egyptian Goose: Portrait of Mr. Goosle

Better detail in large ("L").

I checked up on Mr. this morning; still no Mrs. or goslings to be seen... It is a relief really as it is still far too cold for goslings.

I followed Mr. G. around for a bit; he was relatively relaxed (for him) but still hissy-barked when I crossed the invisible line that demarcates the inner sanctum of his comfort zone. He has an outer line which marks the zone in which he is suspicious of me and begins to get rather irritated, and then there is the inner line inside of which he starts getting vocal and twitchy. I was just on the outside edge of that inner line when I took this. If his brain was slightly more responsive he'd have learnt that I'm no threat, but it has served him and his kind well to retain that level of suspicion and defensiveness in spite of familiarity (with large predators), so I suppose it is not surprising! His edginess also probably contributes to his being a good father, so I oughtn't to begrudge him the odd hiss, bark, or hissy-bark.

He really is a very beautiful creature.

p.s. His head looks long here because his neck is scrunched down behind it.