A parcel of 10.

I regularly keep an eye on the goslings and I am happy to say that there are still ten survivors. Today I will show you something else.

We split when we arrive at the coffee house, as my wife goes to get a table and I go to have a look at the babies. Spring is the season for many new births of bird species, and to us the little goslings are some of the cutest. Real little active characters, and so cute when they are sleeping. One of the parents is always with them, but I found that as the babies grow bigger, the parents start to leave them, presumably to go to the toilet, or to go and have coffee :)
Such was the case today.

As I arrived at the pond, I saw that the water was drained and that they were cleaning all the fallen leaves and other gunk out. But what of the babies?

Look at this! The mom stashed the babies in a corner of the pond and she was resting above them.

After a while the mom stood up and then totally unexpectedly she flew away, but the babies remained sleeping.

This gave me the opportunity to sneak up and to show you the parcel of 10. This is perhaps one of the cutest photos I have ever taken, as it was so cute to see the 10 little critters fast asleep.

The babies were sleeping, and the Malachite Sunbird ordered me to take a coffee break :)

After the coffee break, I returned to see that the mom was still not back. The dad was nowhere to be seen, and the babies had all woken up and were spread across the shallow water strip.

I think the back guy is practicing some yoga stretches :)

This one believes in the sanctity of sleeping.

I think the shallow water floats them to rest.

The big guy at the front was playing mother to the two little ones behind him.

This lot was discussing the time that they would stop with the cleaning and fill the pool with water again.

Out in nature and it holds so many cute surprises.

We were so glad to see that all 10 babies are still there, as last year this time the couple had only 4 left, but for some reason the predators are staying away this year. The babies keep on growing, and in another month or two they will not be in danger anymore, as then they will be too big and no longer easy pickings for the predators. Note that none of the babies as adults will come and nest here, as the parents will beat them off to go and find their own places. We saw this many times with Harry and Sally, our wild pair of Egyptian geese that came every day to feed at our previous house. Harry and Sally would go away during the non-pairing season, and when they returned to nest they would find one or two of their children at the house trying to build their nests. Harry was a fierce guy and he fought with them every day until they left. I think he said something to them like, Go and get your own house :)

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

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