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What does a Canada goose think about when sitting 28 days on her eggs and nest?
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I have often wondered about this.
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As mere mortal human accustomed to all kinds of freedom of movement, tech niceties and diversions in life, I imagined that being confined to one spot for an entire month might represent the epitome of both boredom and sense of imprisonment.
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But, now I am not so sure.
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One of the goose pairs who nested at the Central Park Reservoir last year has returned and "Mary" is once again sitting atop three eggs (so far) at the exact same place as last year. Her gander, "John" dutifully patrols the waters nearby virtually non-stop as he did last year.
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But, what do the geese think about during all this time?
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Are they lonely having to be (for the duration of nesting) mostly separated from their mate?
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(Ganders usually stay some distance away from the nest so as not to call attention to them from potential predators. At the same time, ganders are close enough to nest to make quick defense return if mate and eggs are actually threatened from, for example, raccoons.)
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Are the geese nervous not having the security and comfort of other flock members around?
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That is hard to say, though for sure, it falls upon the couple (who are temporarily living separately most of the time) to be on high alert constantly as they don't have warning signals of potential danger from other geese.
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But, mostly, I wondered if the nesting geese are bored? -- especially the mama goose confined nearly 24/7 to the nest.
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But, perhaps I need not have wondered about this so much.
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Yesterday, I watched Mary sitting on her nest for nearly a half hour.
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And she seemed anything but bored.
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On the contrary, she appeared to be highly interested and intrigued watching seagulls fly across the Reservoir and land on the water -- almost like a human watching a particularly engaging movie. She barely took her eyes off the seagulls and other water birds (mostly, shovelers) flitting about the water.
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Other times, Mary preened her feathers, changed positions on the nest and even took a quick nap under the sun, tucking her head back.
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Once in a while, John took a quick swim by to gaze and check on her.
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While I check in on John and Mary each day, there is also the nesting goose from Edmonton, Canada, who, after six years has become a kind of Internet "star." The nesting process in on a live feed video camera, allowing visitors unobtrusive access any time of the day or night:
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The video voyeurism is fascinating as it pretty much replicates what I am observing in Central Park -- though the mama from Canada doesn't appear to have seagull "movies" to watch.
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But, certainly, she is alert to and intrigued by every sound and her head and eyes attuned to every sight.
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And of course, there are those special moments to simply sit back and catch some shut eye.
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Lord knows there will be few of those once the goslings actually hatch.
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As for the ganders, its seems "rest" is just not in their cards either before the eggs hatch or after.
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"Guard duty, patrol, being on the ready to immediately defend" and chasing off all would-be intruders or predators is both, their present and their future.
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Perhaps the reality is that nesting geese, though it appears they have time to burn on their wings, don't actually have that much time to "think."
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Everything seems to be about alertness, patience and preparation -- as it probably should be for humans. -- PCA
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