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Sometimes, even when we perceive of ourselves as generally perceptive and aware, something happens out of the blue, that we just didn't see coming at all.
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Such has occurred over the past few days.
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Two nights ago, I received a phone call from fellow goose observer, Nita.
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"Patty, I'm here at the Reservoir for nearly an hour and am only seeing one gosling!"
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"Well, have your walked around the entire Reservoir?" I asked skeptically. "You know how these two goslings like to wander off."
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"No, I have a bad knee. But, the family is usually here on the East Side and I only see the parents and one gosling."
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"Nita, I'm sure the gosling has simply strayed again. Maybe he is with one of the other goose flocks. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened. I'm coming over in about a half hour and will check the rest of the Reservoir. Don't worry. I'm sure he is fine!"
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I realized I had sounded a bit harsh to my friend and regretted that. I was trying to be consoling, but the news that we might have lost another gosling was worrisome and unwelcomed. -- Something I did not want to even contemplate, much less have to realize.
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I arrived at the Reservoir shortly before 8 PM and met Nita and another concerned goose watcher, Edward. Both were looking down upon the goose family on the water that was then missing still another gosling.
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"No sign of our wandering baby yet?" I asked.
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"No, not at all," came the reply from both Nita and Edward with the latter adding that he had just walked around the Reservoir and had seen nothing.
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"Well, perhaps he is resting or wandering among some of the tall brush on the rocks. The plants are so high, it could be easy to miss him. I'll walk around before it gets dark and get back to you."
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I simply could not conceive of anything bad happening to either of the goslings. They had rapidly grown over the past few weeks and were very quick, both on the rocks and in the water. The missing gosling just had to be somewhere along the mile and quarter stretch of the Reservoir. I was sure I would find him!
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But, more than a half hour later and after searching seemingly every nook and cranny along the mile and quarter route, I too, had come up with nothing.
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It was like the gosling had just disappeared into thin air.
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I met up with Nita and Edward again and shared the disappointment.
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"What do you think might have happened?" I asked, feeling totally mystified.
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Edward theorized that perhaps a raccoon attacked and killed the gosling, but I had doubts about that.
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"I think if raccoons were a real threat, the ducks would not so freely walk among them," I pondered. "And the goslings are almost as big as mallards now."
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But Edward said he saw a raccoon jump the back of an adult goose and was somewhat convinced of their aggression.
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Aware that there is a protective mother raccoon with four babies in the area, its possible a mama raccoon might perceive an adult goose as "threat," but I still couldn't perceive a raccoon attacking a half grown gosling. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
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But, the fact was, I had no explanation for the vanished gosling so almost anything was possible -- Snapping Turtle. Hawk. Raccoon, take your pick.
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But, I still preferred to think that "Rover" (my name for the bigger of the two goslings then missing) had simply wandered off (again) and would mysteriously turn up as he always did in the past.
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As the sun had already set and the three of us were then looking at what was a very peaceful and lovely scene of a number of ducks, geese and one gosling swimming on the tranquil water, it was simply impossible to think that anything bad could happen at what was really, the safest place for water birds in all of Central Park (or perhaps even New York City in its entirety).
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Nita, Edward and I all vowed not to give up hope. I assured them I would return to the Reservoir early the next morning and get back to them with any news.
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Not wanting to believe what I was actually seeing, I convinced myself that Rover would again be found the next day, safe and sound with the family.
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But, that did not happen either yesterday morning or today.
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There is no question now that Rover is gone -- just like the third gosling who similarly vanished when only a couple of weeks old.
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That was, however, more understandable when the little ones were so tiny and vulnerable. Much harder to fathom now when the two surviving goslings were seemingly past the most dangerous point in their lives. Both had adapted so well to any threats in their environment and were quick to dive under the water or flee from rocks when perceiving any real or potential danger.
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So, what could have changed now? It's a complete and baffling mystery there is no ready explanation for.
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Walking around the Reservoir this morning, I thought of how "different" this particular goose family was and is from others I had witnessed in the past and even the other goose family currently at the Boat Lake of whom Liliana describes, "Tighter than a rubber band!" The two goslings (only a couple of weeks old) and their extremely protective, watchful parents are according to Liliana, never more than a couple of feet apart.
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But, from practically the day they hatched, all three Reservoir goslings had tendency to wander far from their parents and freely explore to their own adventures.
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Now, for two of the three babies, their sense of independence and curiosity has apparently cost their lives.
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I feel particularly concerned for "Remy" the now one surviving gosling of the three. Not only has Remy lost her two siblings, but there are no other goslings at the Reservoir among the total of 25 geese. She quite literally has no one go grow up with.
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That could become a critical factor in Remy's overall survival next spring when the parents again seek to nest and "push the kids from the nest." Usually, the yearling siblings stay with each other during the spring and molting seasons. But, who will Remy flock with next spring, assuming she survives till then? That is an unanswerable question.
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When the "miracle" goslings first hatched, I felt relief that the future for resident Canada geese at Central Park was at least somewhat assured with the birth of new life to later replace those resident geese lost to attrition and old age in the coming years.
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But, with aggressive goose harassment and egg addling practices conducted at Central Park, along with the now loss of two out of three goslings at the Reservoir, such assurance is not guaranteed.
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All hope for the future now flatly rests with the two surviving goslings at the Boat Lake and the pitiful "loner" gosling, Remy, whose chances for overall survival are now greatly diminished.
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Over recent years, I have become more than aware of our city's relentless and seemingly vicious and non-sensical, "War on resident Canada geese." I further thought myself more than perceptive and anticipatory of all the bad things that could possibly happen to geese in our city, from USDA WS goose massacres to whitewash news articles, to seemingly non-stop harassment and egg destruction.
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However, to quote a line from a James Taylor song, "But, I always thought I would see you again."
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Yes, I always thought I would see little Rover again and again and again.
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I could simply not perceive of anything bad happening to the few little goslings for whom the entire future of resident Canada geese in the crown jewel of city parks lays.
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Sometimes, just when you think yourself aware and anticipatory of almost anything bad, something happens that just completely rocks your world and shows how naive you really are.
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Snapping Turtle? Hawk? Raccoon?
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In a world of so much human-caused grief, who would after all, think that it might be a part of nature itself that ultimately takes out one of its own?
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It was the one factor I never considered, but am forced to now.
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But, even scarier than that thought is the question of whether we will one day be looking at Central Park and realizing that we are down to the last resident goose?
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"And then there was one," indeed. -- PCA
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