Gilbert Run Park in July 2024

 On another trip to Waldorf, we stopped at Gilbert Run for a visit on the return home.  I like seeing the varied bird life and the pleasant water view.  Most of the birds I saw were hybrid geese.  They have unusual coloring

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Storytime: The Lost Gosling

 

On May 2^nd, I noticed that the geese on the osprey's nest hatched their goslings. Daddy Goose was on the lawn, keeping an eye on a little gosling that had somehow fallen out of the nest.  The little bird stumbled around and got caught briefly under the base of the cedar tree by the water.  

Daddy Goose couldn’t find it hidden under the trunk, so he wandered off toward the osprey nest where Mama was still sitting on the other goslings. 

 

The baby wandered around, stumbling a lot.  It swam toward the nest, but Daddy Goose was looking the other way.  

I purposely left the bulkhead in my shot, so you can tell the little gosling was trying to swim back and forth and came back to the yard.  Mom and Dad were still looking around.  

The gosling tried walking along the bulkhead.  

This took quite some time and after a long while, some other birds tried to help.  This surprised me, because I wasn’t sure if the other birds would attack, but they actually seemed to try to let the geese know that they had found the little one.  

They landed quite near the gosling.  The photos are not very good, but you can see that the Great Blue Heron and the black birds were not attacking.  

Daddy Goose got quite close by, but still didn’t see the baby just sitting near the bulkhead.  He just kept looking the wrong way.  

And Mama goose was still sitting on the other young ones.  

Finally Daddy Goose spotted the gosling in the water by the pier where I couldn’t see them, and they swam away from my view.  I don’t know if they stayed on the shore or what happened overnight.

On May 3rd, I saw three adult geese and a family with 6 goslings by the bulkhead.  I don’t know if the little gosling survived or if the family was the same one.  It seemed likely and I can only hope the little gosling survived.  

After swimming around for a bit, the geese abandoned the nest and later I saw a goose pair checking out the osprey nest.  I kind of doubted it was the same pair since there were no little ones.

The End

Winter Birds 2024

A variety of birds hang around the local creek in the Winter when the osprey aren't visiting.  We enjoy watching them and their variety of behaviors.  There has been a huge flock of geese.  I was surprised to see a pair of swans two days ago since I haven't seen any on the creek for several years.

Canada geese

Buffleheads

Trumpeter swan

Nest visitors 2021

I am wondering if these are the geese who lived on the osprey nest last year.  Probably not.   They looked quite cozy.  They were with a flock and didn’t stay.  Other geese have visited as well as eagles.  (The osprey arrive from the south around mid-March.)

We Want Your Osprey Nest Continued

CLICK HERE FOR Osprey Nest Takeover Video

In April our osprey nest was hijacked by a pair of geese. For a couple of days the osprey tried hard to reclaim his nest, but the brave geese wouldn't give up, and are now tending eggs or goslings (can't tell from the shore). We had not heard of this happening, but research tells us it does happen occasionally.

#OspreyNestTakeover #GooseOsprey #GooseOspreyWar #GooseInOspreyNest

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We Want Your Osprey Nest

 Osprey owners

 The Takeover

 Goose owners

Thurmont, MD and Cunningham Falls State Park May 2, 2019

Hunting Creek Lake, a 43 acre man-made lake in Cunningham Falls State Park

Goose family on the beach

 Cunningham Falls, 78 feet, the highest waterfall in Maryland

Park with a Dam in Thurmont

 Town of Thurmont