... with one eye open.

By Chamaeleo

Goosle Fledgling?

Larger in large ("L")!

Look how big it is! Wow, it was so lovely to see the Goosles today: I visited them this morning (it was drizzling...) and also in the early afternoon (when it was still drizzling...). Aw, the "little one" has got bigger and stronger, but still looks pretty spindly next to Mr. and Mrs.

It has changed so much in a week: it made both its usual peeping noise and also a new chattering noise which was much less baby-ish. It is still super-cute and keen: Mr. and Mrs. were being pretty slow and lazy, but the little one was being much more active and kept going over to Mr. and Mrs. and peeping when they were lying down... At one point four cormorants flew over which put them on alert (I don't know why; perhaps the Goosles assumed that the cormorants had taken flight together because of a threat), and Mrs. made her "Let's fly" noise which got the little one all excited and chattery. It went over to Mr. and Mrs. and bobbed its head and chattered, but in the end they didn't take flight, so I'm still not sure whether I can call it the Goosle fledgling or not... I reckon it probably can fly as it seemed much stronger (when it flapped) and it seemed pretty keen when Mrs. made her trumpeting call to flight.

Mr. has started to find the baby irritating though which is currently quite amusing (he kept poking it feebly with his beak to get it to give him more space) but will become a bit less funny soon: Mr. didn't like the fledgling being closer to Mrs. than he was, so would tromp over and move it on a bit. He definitely wasn't trying to get rid of it, but was certainly being controlling.

I've put up some alternatives: the day was drizzly, but it was lovely to see them so I stayed for quite a while and took plenty of photos...
Mrs. was preening and got a feather stuck to her beak (she's v. pretty).
Curious little pigeon: this inquisitive (/hungry) pigeon hurried across the grass towards me when I was trying to tempt the fledgling with "fake bread". The Goosles are wise to it and never respond...
Fledgling Pilates: the fledgling was stretching, and Mrs. seemed fascinated by something at her feet...

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