Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Growing up

I stepped out the front door the other evening to see if it was still too hot to take George on an evening stroll, and what I saw surprised me. The little Canada Geese family was about 100 yards away at the back of the maintenance shed, and upon hearing my door open, they bolted towards the pond, all of them running as fast as they could, with their necks pointed straight out.
The babies are huge now, and I went in the house and put the zoom lens on my camera and George and I headed down to the pond. It was still pretty darn hot and humid and I had to wait quite a while until the lens stopped fogging up, but I managed to get a couple of decent shots of the little ones.
In the top photo, the momma goose is with three of her little ones. Look at how much they’ve grown in two short months! Do you see them up in the header I made? That’s the same family when the goslings were tiny.
In the second photo, three of the little ones are swimming in a line right through the center of the picture.
And finally, in the third photo, this fella had just ducked his head into the water and came out again. It’s why his head is still all wet. Can you see his downy fuzz on his back? Do you know how I can tell it’s a male? No, seriously, I’m asking you, because I don’t know and I can’t tell from here. I just think he looks like a he.
I’m on a road trip with my good friend, Karen. I left Tuesday night from my house to stay with her in NJ. We’re going swimming in Adrienne’s pool. On Wednesday morning, we plan on heading north. More on our destination will come.
George is doing fine. I just needed to tell you that. He was excited to be at the vet office, and even as they led him away, he never looked back!
He was a little groggy when I brought him home yesterday, and I left him in the care of my husband and son. I'll call home this morning to make sure he's doing fine.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone.

9 comments:

Mary said...

Good morning, Kate. So glad to hear that George is doing well after his "ordeal." Love the goose pics, especially "Mark Spitz." Enjoy your trip -- NJ in 100 degrees is lovely, isn't it?
xoxo,
Mary

Mental P Mama said...

They all grow up so fast. Sigh. Glad George is okay, too;)

Treasia Stepp said...

My goodness how they have grown. They are so cute still yet. Glad to hear George is recuperating well and doing fine. Has he given you any dirty looks yet? LOL.

abb said...

THAT'S why their heads look a little fuzzy! Didn't know the "babies" had down. Man! That was a quick growing time!

So pleased to hear George is doing well.

Hilary said...

Beautiful photos of your feathered friends, Kate. Glad to hear about George taking things in stride.

Annie said...

Great photos, Kate. I do love your blog. One of the very first I found after I started blogging and it was Blog of the Day. good on you. Hope the internet improves. I have a similar situation in Australia.

I have tagged you on my blog today.

Annie

Laura ~Peach~ said...

love the pics it is amazing how fast they grow up... Have a safe fun trip... glad the pup is handleing the change well!

Anonymous said...

I love this blog and the photography ... I'm not sure how to tell male and females apart ... I'm glad george is doing good.

brneyedgal967 said...

Those pictures look like Alley Cat's tattoo. I wasn't thrilled that she wanted a tattoo on her 18th birthday - she paid for it herself, I protested.

However, her choice was sweet. As a tribute to her grandfather who always took her fishing and watching the ducks when she was little... they'd see the ducks and sing a silly little song "Duckies on the water - ha ha ha ha ha ha."

So she chose to get a picture of a mama duck, with 2 baby ducks in tow behind her, rippling in the water as a tribute to her grandfather. It's quite sweet actually.