The Geese have Flown the Coop!

They did not tell me a few nights ago, they had plans to leave.

A hearty meal before departing.

I fully expected it. -- But not so soon.

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When arriving to the Central Park Reservoir on Saturday evening, there was the usual troupe of mallards and 7 geese.

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But immediately, I noticed something was different.

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The family was not among the seven geese!

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Nearly every night for the past two months, Hansel, Greta and their three surviving goslings would patiently wait for me on the rocks. Mom particularly liked stretching her neck and head to grab hand-held treats through the fence bars. (While Dad liked hand treats as well, he was usually too busy, keeping mallards and other geese away from the babies.)

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But the seven geese on Saturday evening were composed of the group who has been pond-hopping over the past few weeks. Sometimes they are there and sometimes not.

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But where is my family? I wondered. Surely, they couldn't have just upped and left!  I had not even seen the goslings flying yet!

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I walked around the entire Reservoir Saturday night and there was no sign of the family.  The same was true last night when not finding any geese at the Reservoir.

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No doubt about it. Just one week short of their 3-month birthday, the goslings apparently had developed sufficiently to allow them to take flight and leave the Reservoir with their parents.  

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I of course knew it was a matter of time before the parents -- eager to return to their normal haunts throughout the year -- would compel and require their goslings to take flight with them.

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It's been nearly four months since Hansel and Greta have had access to grass. Normally geese are grass grazers. Though they can obviously survive, when necessary, on plants (which surround the Reservoir) plants are not their first choice for food. The reason for choosing the Reservoir as a nesting site was safety, not abundant food supply.

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I don't know where Hansel and Greta spend the rest of the year. I don't believe it is anywhere else in Central Park. But I'm guessing it is some place with plenty of grass. -- Something that will be a real nice and necessary treat for the kids.

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Nor do I know if the family might bounce back a few times just to say "hi" and pay a visit like this gaggle of pond-hopping, seven geese sometimes do. (Obviously, the seven are Central Park resident geese.)

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But, I am guessing that (based on past behavior) Hansel and Greta and their new family are probably gone somewhere far away until next spring. 

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Typically, Hansel and Greta, (along with John and Mary) arrive to the Reservoir in late March or early April. -- Generally a couple of weeks after the wintering geese have departed. As I recognize them, they always recognize me.

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So, it is with some sense of bitter-sweetness that I report what I knew was inevitable and soon to be shared here:

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Despite the intimacy and connection. Despite the joy of seeing the babies hatch and grow. Despite the pain of realizing the death of the fourth gosling in July. And despite the elation of seeing the surviving goslings thrive and developing the close relationship with the parents, the fact is that when nature calls back to the wild, the geese have to go.

Yes, I fully expected it. But not so soon.

 I just hope that somewhere Hansel, Greta and their three beautiful babies are enjoying some nice green grass and if I am lucky, maybe giving a thought to me once in a while.

"Wait till next year!" we all say.

And with God's blessing, it will be all five of them returning next spring.  -- PCA

                                              

                                                         



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