Swimming Lessons

In a line.
In a line.

Canada goose mother and father at front and back of a line of six new goslings learning to navigate the creek this morning.

I dropped my car off to be inspected this morning then walked through town to the post office to mail a few packages. There had been fog and while I was hoping for a nice fog image I was out of luck, and worst the fog subdued all the animals along the creek. But on my way back the fog had thinned and the day brightened so I spent nearly an hour following a family of Canada geese as they gracefully navigated a section of Chartiers Creek.

Safely crossing the street.
Safely crossing the street.

They began swimming with the current along the bank about 100 yards from where their nests are, then turned around and began paddling against the current.

Paddling in shallow water.
Paddling in shallow water.

Every 20 feet or so they would pull up to the bank and the little ones would get out and walk around a bit and peck on things while vigilant parents kept watch.

A little break on land.
A little break on land.

Even while paddling the parents constantly kept an eye on me and all else.

Alert.
Alert.

Then off they would go again, though one little one was curious and kept getting caught up in little side investigations.

The little one gets left behind!
The little one gets left behind!

Five other geese came downstream and three followed the little family at a distance along the edge for a while. The parents didn’t seem concerned—possibly those were last year’s goslings of their own family learning a little more about raising baby geese. I thought they might be a crew of bachelor geese who were kidding each other about parenthood.

The bachelors.
The bachelors.

Five are perfectly lined up.
Five are perfectly lined up.

On the edge.
On the edge.

. . . . . . .

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.

0 Comments

  1. […] goslings are getting pretty big—just a month ago they took their first swimming lesson—but still keeping close to mom and dad and the side of the creek. I liked the photos of them […]

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