Concern for Greta

I am worried about Greta.

Nothing about this spring has been "normal" for she and her mate, Hansel, who returned to the Jackie Onassis Reservoir last month in order to once again nest.

It seemed at the time, a "hopeful" sign considering Hansel and Greta lost all five of their goslings last year when the babies were only a month old. (One suspects malnutrition being at least, a contributory, if not the main cause to the demise of the goslings, as all the grass and foliage necessary to sustain goslings had been removed from the landscape surrounding the Reservoir.)

But once again, the mated goose pair returned to a barren landscaped Reservoir with not so much as a blade of grass anywhere among the rocks at the East Side of Reservoir -- Greta's usual nesting spot.

The other Reservoir nesting pair, John and Mary did not return to the Reservoir until a couple of weeks ago, just prior to Mary actually nesting.  Previous to that, the pair was observed grazing on the grass at Harlem Meer.

It is necessary for Canada goose hens to "calorie-load" prior to nesting as they barely eat anything for the month that they incubate their eggs.

But Hansel and Greta stayed mostly at the barren Reservoir where building "fat reserves" wasn't in the cards. Perhaps Greta anticipated the foliage blooming again with with the arrival of spring, but it wasn't to be. Apparently, the roots have been destroyed.

Both pairs nested much later than "normal" which is usually the last days of March or first days in April.  John and Mary began nesting two weeks ago and Hansel and Greta only last week.

I speculated that it took them longer this year to build up the calorie requirements necessary for rigors of nesting.

But did Greta actually build up those necessary requirements at the grass and plant-empty Reservoir?

When photographed more than a week ago, Greta had hatched one egg.

But something about the photo was depressing. No nesting materials and just rock surrounding her. In fact, all the recent photos of Hansel and Greta exuded an air of forlorness, search and loss.

But maybe that was just my imagination? My "feelings?"

 Laura, who usually shares photos and updates with me is not able to get to the Reservoir everyday due to work obligations. But she does check Instagram photos.

Two days ago, she found a "sunset" photo on Instagram showing, both Hansel and Greta standing on empty East Side Reservoir rocks with no nest or eggs in sight.

Laura thought that perhaps a recent storm had washed away Greta's eggs, but I don't think so.  Mary's eggs were intact as of Saturday.

Yesterday, Laura requested a friend to check on Hansel and Greta at the Reservoir, but the geese were gone from the nest site. The friend did not walk around the entire Reservoir.

It's possible that the two geese are somewhere else on the Reservoir. Or it's possible they finally gave up on the hostile environment and flew out.

But I can't help having a "bad feeling" about it.

It all seems too Deja-vu....

 Today, I checked back on an old blog post from five years ago, nearly to the day (April 30, 2014):

https://talesamptailsofnewyork.blogspot.com/2014/04/they-only-abandon-their-eggs-when-dying.html

Camille and Brad had survived a brutal NYC winter in 2014 that saw the city receive more than 60 inches of snow. (Normal for NYC is 25 inches of snow a year.). I recall a park worker telling me he had found a number of dead ducks at a frozen Harlem Meer that winter.

But apparently, Camille did not have the calorie and fat reserves to survive the stresses of nesting.  She died a week after laying six eggs.  A little more than a week following her misfortune, another nesting goose perished at the Reservoir on May 10 shortly after laying eggs. (Also detailed in blog.)

And so, am I just being paranoid in worrying over Greta now?
Or is such worry based upon past experience?

I am desperately hoping to be wrong and Laura right. Maybe a storm washed away Greta's eggs.  Maybe she and her mate, Hansel are perfectly fine and just took off after suffering still, another loss.

But the feelings are uneasy, the photos haunting and past blog posts foreboding.

And in light of everything else coming out from NYC parks these days, it is nearly impossible to be optimistic.

I can only hope Greta and her devoted mate are OK, and yet "hope" seems such anemic and powerless word.

           
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