Every spring for the past few years a mating pair of Canada Geese take up residence on the green roof outside our window for a couple of weeks. We've named them Horace and Mildred, and we did a post about them in 2021. We wondered if they would ever establish a nest in the roof's sedum, but they just hang out for a few weeks and then depart. This year they finally decided that our roof was suitable to start a family and about 20 days ago Mildred set up housekeeping with a downy nest and six eggs near one of the vents on the roof. We are all very excited here in Special Collections, and we maintain daily goose alerts!
Mildred will incubate her brood for about 30 days, rarely leaving the nest. She is a very devoted mother. Horace on the other hand is usually gone during the day, so we rarely see him. Canada Geese are monogamous and mate for life, so we don't think he's cheating on Mildred, but we all thought he would be more present as the male usually hangs about to help guard the nest, but apparently he has other ideas.
We should see some hatchlings in about ten days or so, and we'll bring you an update then. While we are interested in seeing the couple nest on our roof, we also have concerns. There is no water, and the goslings will be susceptible to falling off the roof and becoming prey to raptors and other avian predators, especially the peregrine falcons that raise their own families on the nearby roofs of our campus's tallest buildings. Nature will have its way, but we do hope that Mildred and Horace have strategies for keeping their family safe.
Cape Barren Geese (Cereopsis novaehollandiae), family Anatidae, order Anseriformes, order found in various spotty areas on the southern coast of mainland Australia and Tasmania
photographs by Russel Spence, Jeremy Edwards, Jarryd Guilfoyle, and Tracie Louise (BirdLife Australia)
"It's a lovely night in Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza-Plex, and you are a horrible goose."
One of the most unique, silly and joyful fics ive read, it's been an instant favorite! Fanart of the lovely Untitled Goose Fic by the wonderful @eyndr-stories!
wanted to share some of my bird art i made before coming to tumblr! i’m a huge bird fan <3 some of them were either made digitally, with acrylic paint, colored pencil, or pencil. the heron mosaic piece was actually made with cut construction paper!