Feisty Gosling

When I was in Vancouver for a week this past May, I really loved visiting the pond at Jericho Beach Park where I discovered two families of Canada Geese, one of which had nine goslings and one of which had only one, who was the smallest of all, but certainly not the most timid. One morning while I sat on the grass I watched in amazement as this fuzzy gosling helped his/her parents chase away a feisty group of hungry crows. In my photo, you can see how proud this little one is helping Mom. A few days later, I learned that this gosling now had a new sibling, who had been brought to the Wildlife Refuge Centre and reintroduced to the pond (and to these Canada Goose parents, who were happy to take care of a new gosling). That same day, while I was photographing a Great Blue Heron hunting near the edge of the pond, and keeping an eye on the new Canada Goose family, suddenly the heron looked skywards anxiously. A Bald Eagle swooped down to skim the water and almost touched the ground when he flew right over the two goslings and their parents. I held my breath for those few seconds and was so relieved to see everyone was okay, including the heron who had made a fast exit.