A Bountiful Spring in Central Park for New Goose Babies!

New arrival for Hansel and Greta taking a nap.

Three little balls of yellow fluff.

Almost two weeks old now, Hansel and Greta's goslings quickly growing!

Meanwhile, Mary with one of her babies.

John and Mary whose goslings are one week older than Hansel and Greta's.

Naptime!

Proud Mary and her babies.

It's nearly two weeks since Greta hatched her eggs at the Central Park Reservoir.

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But, not all of her five eggs hatched and so Greta continued to dutifully sit on her nest, presumably in hopes the last one finally would.

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She sat on the nest an additionally two days with her already hatched babies tucked neatly under her wings while her mate, Hansel, stayed devotedly by her side.

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But by Monday morning, it was clear that the last egg was unviable. Perhaps due to the delay in quickly moving from the nest or suddenly cooler weather, one of Greta's new hatchlings also didn't make it.

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But she and Hansel still had three little healthy balls of yellow fluff to attend to.

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There is little time in the animal world to mourn what was not meant to be. The family had to quickly recover from loss and move on. 

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Since that time, an interesting development has taken place.

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As previously noted, there was already another goose family at the Reservoir.

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John and Mary had hatched their three goslings a week before those of Hansel and Greta came into this world.

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Typically, John and Mary nest and stay to the north west part of the Reservoir while Hansel and Greta nest and claim the entire east side of it.

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But, since the arrival of Hansel and Greta's new bundles of joy, John and Mary brazenly  moved to the east side with their quickly growing goslings!

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When first observing this, I was both, surprised and concerned -- expecting a long, drawn out battle between the two ganders over territorial claim as what occurred last year.

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But, unlike last year when Mary's nest was destroyed along with the all eggs in it, this year she too, successfully nested and apparently the presence of goslings makes a huge difference in terms of acceptance by another goose family.

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Not only have Hansel and Great accepted the "older" family into their territory, but they actually appear to welcome them!  

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Both families are typically found along the east side of the Reservoir, peacefully getting along and often staying quite close to each other.

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While not certain, I am guessing such acceptance and cooperation is to add measure of security to their situations. As in humans, goose families apparently like to stay together and share in the raising of babies. Additionally, the ganders share in responsibility for defending the territory and chasing away interlopers.

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Speaking of "family," I had previously speculated in past years that Mary and Greta might actually be sisters.

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Since female geese choose the nesting sites and since geese typically return to the general areas they themselves hatched, such speculation was not particularly far out.

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I am now convinced the two geese are sisters. They might in fact be part of the offspring of "Mama and Papa" the original goose parents I observed at Turtle Pond in Central Park during the spring and summer of 2010.

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From the get-go, the goslings of Mama and Papa became very acclimated to people and there is no question that both, Mary and Greta are extremely social with and used to humans. Greta even chose for her nesting site, the most visible and human accessed point of the whole Reservoir -- close to the East 90th Street public entrance!

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Sadly, Mama and Papa have both passed on in recent years.

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But, at least two of their offspring apparently survive to raise their own babies and carry on the legacy.

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This spring in Central Park has been particularly bountiful for geese. Unlike past years, it appears that not all eggs were oiled and/or nests deliberately destroyed by either Geese Police or park personnel.

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There is also a new family of geese at the Boat Lake in Central Park -- a goose pair with seven goslings!

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It has indeed been a bountiful spring in Central Park this year with at least 13 new goslings.

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Compared to last year when there were only three goslings in the entire 843 acre park and the previous year when only two survived, this year is definitely "feast" rather than famine.

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Mama and Papa somewhere in goose heaven, are, I am confident, looking down and smiling.   -- PCA

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