May birds

Some of the local birds - and a couple of new ones. Like these two.


Walking into work I spotted them. Where are the goslings, I wondered. They'd lost one, but all four? But the gander was more aggressive than usual - hissing when I was still pretty far off. So I went to detour, and the goose stood up, and I realized...


It was a different pair altogether. Two little fuzzy yellow goslings, three weeks younger than the other brood. I don't know if this is the same pair that was here the last two years, raising a smaller brood later than the main pair, but most likely it is. I don't know if they come from farther away, or what, but what I do know is that they're very protective of their small family. In fact, shortly after I took these shots I saw the gander run a man who didn't believe the warning right off the path. Hissing, wings spread, and very very serious about his babies.



A mourning dove


A robin


A crow


A barn swallow - fetching mud to build a nest

The original goose and two of her goslings


All three with mom

The older gander. I don't know if he's standing on his foot like that because he just does, or because of his lame leg.

The goslings are way too big to go under her wings now

The family settling in for a nap

One of the killdeer


Killdeer and sandpiper



A sandpiper near another temporary rainpond