| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
|
An unusual patch of warm, 70 degree temperatures has seemingly caused a brief halt in the fall migrations of Canada geese through the Reservoir in Central Park over the past few days. Three were observed on the water over the weekend, but none since.
.
But, that is not to say there hasn't been any goose "drama" in Central Park over this balmy week that could easily be confused with spring.
.
Territorial spats and power shifts have been occurring between the two resident goose families at the Boat Lake.
.
When last writing of the seven geese posturing and battling for top rank at the lake, it appeared that Napoleon, his feisty mate, Josephine and their "adopted" daughter, Daisy had temporarily taken over dominance position from the established family of "Man, Lady" and their two fledglings, hatched over the summer.
.
But, that assessment was apparently premature.
.
This week it apears "Man" had enough of the intimidation and humiliation of Napoleon and decided to stand up to the gander who has well earned a reputation over the years of being the class "bully" of all Central Park resident geese. Either that, or Man did some simple arithmetic and figured that his family of four had distinct advantage over the three -- especially considering that Daisy, the adopted, tag-along daughter of Napoleon and Josephine was not one to take part in any conflict. (She usually veers off to the sidelines of any anticipated battle.)
.
But, Man has evidently "schooled" his two kids in the art of intimidation, along with giving his mate, Lady some directives.
.
This morning, while spending some time with Napoleon, Josie and Daisy on a rock at the Boat Lake, loud and raucous "warning" honks could be heard from a distance and within a minute, all four geese of "the family" were visible, aggressively flying towards the rock to harass the rag tag family out.
.
Even before Man, Lady and the two honking kids arrived to the rock, Napoleon, Josie and Daisy had quickly departed, spreading out in the water.
.
A mild skirmish then took place in the lake with lots of honking and wing flapping, the end of which resulted in Napoleon, Josie and Daisy quietly swimming away.
.
The family then came to the rock to celebrate their "victory" with lots of wing flapping, honking and water splashes.
.
If all this seems too easy for a take-over in the power balance, the real battle apparently took place over the past couple of days according to my friend, Liliana.
.
She called on Wednesday to report how "distressed" she was at failing to play referee between the two battling families. Despite Liliana's efforts at trying broker some kind of peace deal between Napoleon and her "Man," the two ganders got into head to head combat the other day while the other family members looked on. Man apparently came out on top of that battle, though neither gander sustained any actual injuries.
.
Power is thus, once again restored to the "real" goose family -- the one with actual goslings to school and recruit to the little wars of intimidation, dominance and hierarchy.
.
For now, Napoleon and Josie have to be content with second place status on the lake. As for Daisy, she is just happy to have any family at all -- even if just comprised of "wicked stepparents."
.
All this will however change, once the cold weather actually sets in and water birds have to consider more important things than hierarchy and pride battles. Once lakes and ponds start to ice over, its amazing how former "enemies" quickly become comrades in survival and bosom buddies.
.
That is when one sees, instead of birds battling for hierarchy on the water, all geese and ducks hunkering down for warmth and taking shifts to swim circles and try to maintain open water.
.
The motto quickly becomes then, "The enemy of my enemy (old man winter) is my friend." -- PCA
.
.
.
**********
No comments:
Post a Comment