Winter's Alliances

(Photos: 1-- Bottoms up geese putting on show!  2-- Diving geese coming to land and joining Buster and crew. 3-- Brad, calculating winter strategy)

 

"Baby, its cold outside!"

 

This morning, the temperature in NYC plummeted to 23 degrees.

 

Last night, when visiting my feathered friends at Harlem Meer, it was hovering around the freezing point.

 

The promise of winter brings necessary changes to the ducks and geese.  In some cases, those changes involve making deals and forging alliances for the sheer sake of survival.

 

The first thing noticed when arriving to the Meer last night was that many of the geese observed the previous evening had apparently moved on.

 

Perhaps some of the geese had been migratory and had only stopped briefly at the Meer.

 

Others (i.e. former resident geese) had returned to seemingly mark the one year anniversary of harassment and to announce to the world that they had prevailed despite everything!

 

In any case, Buster and his 6 followers were still at the Meer, as was the diving family of four.

 

All eleven geese followed in the water when I arrived with my two dogs.

 

However, when Buster and his crew climbed the embankment in familiar greeting, as well as some of the mallards, I noticed that Brad, my special domestic duck, was missing!

 

Not to immediately panic, I figured that Brad was somewhere on the lake and perhaps unaware that I had shown up a little earlier than usual.   Either he would catch up a little later or I would have to go and look for him.

 

For the moment, however, Buster was standing in front of me soliciting treat as were his rag-tag band of followers and the mallards.

 

Meanwhile, all four of the "diving family" were heads down and butts up in the water!

 

Was this some kind of show they were putting on for my benefit?

 

I had to chuckle.

 

After tossing seeds to the hungry eyes before me, I attempted to snap a photo of all four butts in the air, but only succeeded in getting two in the same frame.

 

Ah, that they would only move a little closer together! 

 

(Perhaps I can elicit the services of Steven Spielberg to aid in the "training" and film recording of a family of diving geese?)

 

After performing their perfectly synchronized routine for a good ten minutes, the family of four ascended the grassy embankment in seeming search for "payment."

 

I fully expected Buster to viciously go after them, but surprisingly he didn't.

 

Rather, as long as the divers respectfully allowed reasonable distance between the two gaggles, Buster appeared willing to accept and let them stay!

 

What was going on?

 

I wondered if perhaps Buster has some secret wish to learn how to dive?   Lord knows, he seems proficient in just about everything else. -- Especially, ruling all the other geese with a seemingly iron wing!

 

But, as all eleven geese peacefully nibbled seeds from the ground along with the mallards, my mind went back to the still missing Brad.

 

Where is that damned duck anyway that he hasn't shown up in all this time?

 

Careful to save some remaining seed, I gathered my dogs, explained to Buster and the others that I had to go and seek Brad and set off on a journey around the lake.

 

Buster looked up briefly from his grazing as if to say, "Not to worry.  Brad's around. Just saw him a while ago......Go on.  You'll find the wretch!"

 

Sure enough, I did find Brad on the east side of the lake, strategically swimming with Piggly and Wiggly!

 

I say, "strategically," because I know Brad to be a very smart and calculating duck based on history and last year's postings in this blog.

 

Just prior to last winter, Brad smartly figured out that he needed to befriend, Joey, a flightless, Pekin duck to aid him and Angelina in keeping open water at the otherwise frozen lake. And, it seems he is doing the same thing again! --  Befriending two other domestic and presumably flightless ducks at the Meer.

 

"Ah, OK, Brad, I know the game now!  You are grooming Piggy and Wiggly to be your combatants against the evils and harshness of winter.  Smart move!"

 

Unfortunately, Piggly and Wiggly are not the most robust ducks at Harlem Meer.   I had personally been feeding Joey for almost a year before Brad took (up to that point, the very hated) Joey under wing. Joey was a very large and plump Pekin duck. Piggly and Wiggly, by contrast, haven't been at the Meer that long and are kind of scrawny Kacki Campbell ducks. (I am guessing the "breed.")

 

Nevertheless, Brad has seemingly "calculated" that too.   Upon seeing me, Brad led his two new charges to follow me back to the feeding station.

 

Brad apparently will see to it that Piggly and Wiggly get fattened up before the real challenges of winter set in.

 

And so, it seems in the waterfowl world (like in the human world) deals are made and one wing washes the other.   The "deal" between Brad and the lowly Piggly and Wiggly seems to be, "I will protect you from the mallards and help you to find food.  But, you will have to work your butts off to maintain open water here over the next two months!"

 

For their part, Piggly and Wiggly have no choice but to go along with that deal.  It is in fact, the only way they can survive Harlem Meer over the winter.

 

Returning to the feeding station, Buster, his crew and their new found "buddies" were still sharing tidbits from the ground.  Meanwhile, Brad and his new charges took their positions as I hand fed Brad and tossed remaining seeds to Piggly and Wiggly.

 

For the few minutes I removed my gloves to hand-feed Brad, my hands became frozen, reminding all, that winter is now less than a week away.

 

And yes, alliances are formed and deals made, both among the geese and the ducks.

 

Whatever it takes to get them through the long, dark and merciless days of January and February in New York City.

 

For it is only in the strength of numbers and mutual cooperation that geese and ducks can ultimately succeed in breaking the stranglehold of winter's grip on frozen waters and work to "de-ice" both, their relationships and the watercourses themselves.

 

I don't know if Buster, in fact, has "secret wishes" to learn how to dive as the family of four "bottoms up" geese.  But, he knows there is strength in numbers, whether that strength be in eventual migration together or working simply to maintain open water.  For their part, the divers seem to recognize Buster as a "leader" as do the other six geese who have previously latched on to Buster.

 

And meanwhile, Brad has been through this movie before.  And though over the past year, he lost, both Joey and his beloved Angelina, mysterious circumstances have seemingly "provided" for him once again to get through winter "with a little help from his friends."

 

If politics sometimes makes strange bedfellows among humans, imagine what winter makes for our feathered and other friends of nature?  

 

Winter's Alliances. 

 

They may seem strange and mysterious, but they assuredly have purpose.  -- PCA

 

 

 

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