Goosle Goslings: Bad News

Well, I'll just start with the bad news: one of the goslings has been in the wars, and it looks as though it has had its head bitten by a predator as it has bite marks on both sides of its head (with missing feathers), and its head, throat, and neck are all very swollen. Argh, poor gosling: I've put up a sad photo of it swimming with Mrs. looking very swollen, but it doesn't appear to be losing blood externally.

I visited the Goosles after a wonderful day out catching up with my godfather, having lunch with a friend, and then sitting on the common with my brother having ice cream. I visited the mallardlings on Long Pond and was pleased to see that the mother still has 9 and they all look healthy and happy; they've started developing feathers in patches now. Only the Goosles bore bad news: the injured gosling was being very lethargic and just lay down while its sibling and parents grazed, stretched, and flapped. It swam with them when they entered the water, but wasn't exploring but just sticking with Mrs. Poor gosling. I phoned Ann (the water bird superhero) who put her friend Jurgen on the case; he's visiting them the evening to see if he can help.

In this photo you can see the wind ruffling the left-hand (healthy) gosling's plumage: since I last saw them, they've developed a coloured speculum on each wing and are looking very grown up. The healthy gosling did one set of flapping but didn't bounce, and seemed very cheerful which was reassuring. The hurt one (on the right) mostly just rested in the nice bed of grasses.
I won't be able to visit the goslings tomorrow, but hope I can speak to Ann or Jurgen to find out how the gosling is getting on.