WEATHER OR NOT

The weather over the weekend was sunny with blue skies. There were also unceasing gusty winds. Off and on it clouded up and then it rained--a lot. On Saturday snow fell. The sky filled with big fluffy flakes that might be called feather snow in November, but now it most certainly would be categorized as Dufus Snow. There was also sleet, a little hail and it got so cold at night that the bird bath froze over.

This morning the temperature had improved some and the wind had stopped. I dressed warm, grabbed my bicycle and went for a ride.

I made a point of going by the big osprey nest now occupied by the Canada Goose. Despite the days of rotten weather she was still there. Not a Mazie bird, more of a Horton type—faithful one hundred per cent. I was so happy to see that long neck peering over the nest that I almost ran over a skunk.

Both the black and white stinker and I were surprised to see each other. There is nothing like the sight of a skunk to shoot adrenalin through the system. I was long gone before Mr. Le Pew could load his weapon.

 

The cool misty morning gradually became rainy and then turned into a downpour. Someday there will be practical windshield wipers for glasses. When I came in the house I had a stripe down my back, not unlike a skunk. However, mine was just mud and water flung up from my back bicycle tire.

skunk photo from Grit.com

WE'LL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW---

Just playing with words and this is what happened. 

Don't know where it came from--kind of a weird ouija board sort of thing.

BABY STEPS?

Across the railroad tracks from the pond and the river is a large nest on a power pole.

It was built by ospreys.

Ospreys are large predatory birds that catch and eat live fish.

They also feed those fish to their young. For this reason ospreys build their nest high and near bodies of water. Osprey chicks stay in the nest and are fed by their parents until they grow large and strong enough to fly and survive on their own.

But this year it is not ospreys in the big nest.

Canada Geese have moved in.

(Maybe they got a sweet deal on the nest when the ospreys couldn’t make mortgage payments).

A big female goose is spending time there hatching out her eggs.

The location is certainly safe from enemies such as foxes and raccoons. And Mrs. Goose has a great view of the surrounding area.

But according to research ducks and geese don’t bring food to their babies. The little ones are not able to eat until they reach water. As soon as ducklings and goslings hatch they leave the nest and follow their mom to a nearby pond or stream.

In this particular case the first baby step is going to be a BIG one.

Waterfowl have occasionally been known to nest in high places. Fortunately the babies weigh almost nothing so when they jump they float more than fall to the ground.

There are stories of people catching leaping wild ducklings and goslings or putting out hay to soften the fall when little ones have to dive from a nest built over a sidewalk in town.

The baby Canada Geese in this osprey nest will have a big challenge right away in their little lives. I hope their parents rethink their nesting location next year.



From  www.canadageese.org/faq5.html------
A goose has built a nest very high up, do we need to do anything? How will the goslings get down?
Geese have been known to build nests high enough off of the ground to catch the attention of concerned observers. In many cases, when the nest is the equivalent of only one story high, there is no need for concern. When hatched, the goslings will follow the mother goose down by jumping and floating (not flying) to the ground (they weigh very little when first hatched). In the ideal situation, the gosling will be able to land on a soft surface such as grass, water, soil or other vegetation (i.e., not pavement or stones). Even at this safe jumping height there are possible complications depending on where the nest is located.

Link to a story about leaping goslings:  http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8735898