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An uneasy feeling swept over me Tuesday evening when checking on Napoleon and Josephine at Harlem Meer, as I saw neither goose.
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I did not expect to see Josephine as she would be obscured by foliage surrounding the tiny island on which she nested. The island is located in the middle of the lake to its western side. As in past years, it is dutifully patrolled by Napoleon swimming nearby when his mate is nesting.
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But, Napoleon was nowhere to be seen on Tuesday -- even after I walked around the entire Meer twice!
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A gander does not up and leave when his mate is nesting. So I had to consider the possibilities of the situation and none were pleasant:
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1-- Something happened to Napoleon. Either sudden illness and death or unlikely attack by dog or other predator.
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2-- Something happened to Josephine. Illness, sudden death. But, even in that instance, it's unlikely Napoleon would simply take off and leave.
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3-- Napoleon was on the island, alongside his mate. But, ganders rarely if ever go directly to the nesting side unless the eggs or mate are under attack or eggs have been lost.
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Not being able to see past the trees and foliage on the island, I was not able to draw any conclusions, so I simply vowed to return the next day.
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Yesterday, I returned to Central Park, but first went to check on the other pair of nesting geese -- John and Mary at the Reservoir.
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Much to my shock and dismay, John was also missing from patrol in the waters near his nesting mate! (For her part, Mary was sitting on her eggs, not appearing perturbed in any way. But, where was her mate?)
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Despite looking everywhere amongst the rocks and water to the east and west of the nest location, there was no sign of John!
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How could it be that in two days, the two ganders of nesting hens suddenly up and leave?
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None of it was making sense and all of it was perturbing.
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Still, I had to consider that I could not see well to the opposite, south side of the Reservoir. While it didn't make sense that John would wander all the way to the south side (far from nesting site) it was a possibility I would have to check later.
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At the moment however, I had to return to Harlem Meer to check if Napoleon was back.
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Imagine the surprise (and relief) when arriving at the Meer to find both, Napoleon and Josephine casually grazing on the grass!
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It was then evident that Josephine had lost the eggs she had been sitting on for less than a week. Apparently, Napoleon had joined her on the island the previous day to either defend the eggs from predation or more likely, simply join her in mourning their loss.
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It is suspected the eggs might have been flooded during the heavy rainstorm on Monday or were lost to some type of predation from animals or human (i.e. "goose management?"). I personally believe the storm flooding scenario, as goose management usually consists of oiling eggs (so goose will continue to nest), rather than destroying them outright.
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I was both sad and relieved when seeing Napoleon and Josephine together again yesterday.
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Sad that once again they had experienced egg loss. But, extremely relieved that both geese were otherwise OK. Of the three possibilities originally considered, egg loss was the least grievous, though still mournful in its own right.
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For their part, neither Napoleon or Josephine appeared particularly down or traumatized over still another loss. Rather, they seemed to take it in stride. ("That's nature?")
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Napoleon even muttered his low, "huh" greeting when he and Josie walked up to me.
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The behavior was in sharp contrast to how the two lovers usually appear when realizing unviability of their eggs after a whole month of sitting on or guarding them. In past years, both, Napoleon and Josephine (and other failed nesting goose pairs) typically grieve the egg losses for at least a couple of days and even appear to hold "mock funerals" for them, staying close to the nesting site.
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This was another reason why I suspected the eggs lost in this case were due to natural causes. The geese rebounded quickly. (On this note, there is possibility they may attempt to renest as it is still relatively early in the season.)
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Finally leaving Harlem Meer, I returned back to the Reservoir and was pleasantly surprised to find John in his usual spot. -- Dutifully patrolling the waters surrounding Mary's nesting site.
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But where had John disappeared to earlier and why had he left, I wondered?
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I would soon get an answer to both questions.
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When finally departing the Reservoir at the East 90th Street entrance, I could see in the distance, three geese to the far south west portion of it.
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John had apparently and deliberately "wandered" to the south Reservoir earlier to lay down the rules to the newly arriving geese. -- "Stay in this corner or else!"
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In essence, what might have initially appeared as ganders suddenly abandoning their nesting mates was quite the opposite in both cases.
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In the one instance, Napoleon went to his mate to provide solace for their recent egg losses and in the second instance, John had to once again establish territory and ward off any "intruders."
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Both, Mary and Josephine are fortunate to have such devoted, loving and dutiful partners. -- The kind of partners that many humans might envy. -- PCA
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