On my way home from a mini-vacation in Copper Harbor, I came across this scene. I can't remember the name of the park this is by, but it seems like every spring there's a pair of geese with their brood there. Today I stopped got out and shooed (not sure I spelled that one right!) them across the road, as a car was coming and I was afraid they'd get run over. You can see there's at least one chick that is comfortably sitting right in the road!

Nice shots, Mary, thanks. Wow, what a big brood. I liked these birds a lot more, though, when they used to just stop by on their way to and from Canada and didn't stay the whole season. They do make an awful mess!!

These photos are soooooo cool! Thanks Mary!

It looks like the Houghton Canal is as foggy this morning, if not more than, the picture posted yesterday! Even though those geese are messy, they sure are cute! I wish I could go in that crystal clear water right now!

Looks like the adult in the top picture has a band on it`s right leg. Beautiful pictures, by the way!!!

They really are cute......does anyone know why they have decided to stay rather than pass through??.....Escanaba and Marquette really have a problem with the large numbers messing Ludington Park and Presque Isle Park...........

Probably at Cat Harbor. The sign there says, "Population 3." Looks like they might have to change that.

What a great mom Mrs. Goose is....eleven children
is nothing to snivel at! Canadian geese in our
neck of the woods were born 6-8 weeks ago, also
big broods, or would that be great gaggles? Thanks
so much for the daily glimpses of life in the U.P.
By the way, does anyone know where Petticoat Lake
is?

Last Monday, also on a little trip to Copper Harbor my mother, daughter and I saw this BIG family running around the road. I also was concerned about them getting hit..Their home must be on the opposite side of the water and they have to cross the road to get to it. We didn't get a picture so thanks for one here.

Kate. Did a lot of bird hunting on the Petticoat Lake Road back in the 50s and 60s, before the road went all the way to Petticoat Lake, and was dirt. It's over by 3 Lakes. Lots of homes and camps on the lake now.

JAD,Oskar, MI,
Yes, that's it....Cat Harbor. Several years now, I've passed this spot and seen a pair of geese with their chicks. Maybe it's the same pair each year! Glad everyone is enjoying the picture!

Goodness! What a great gaggle of goslings!

Looks as though they all made it across the road this time. In the spring toads cross certin roads. People go out at dusk, pick the toads up, put 'em in a bucket and carry them across the road to the breeding area!!! There are even permanent road signs in appropriate locations warning drivers about ducks crossing the road. Where badgers cross roads underpasses are built for them - lucky badgers!!!

Love to see the spring babies. I am looking forward to the shots of the stormy waves on Lake Superior over the summer and fall.


Just Beyond The Edge Of The Woods

I can hear her now, as she thunders and rages away at those things
that would keep her bound. I smell her scent, wild rose with just a
hint of musk. I can taste her mist on the breeze that carries her
love to me today as it has so many days before. I feel her anger as
she repeatedly pounds the earth in her attempts to escape. Finally,
I see her through the woods as the night falls. The setting sun
riding the storm betrays her gentle ways.

Who is this you ask? Who is this lover who lives just beyond the
edge of the woods? Who takes innocent lives and will never be
tamed? It is Lake Superior.

To Uncle Cliff, MI- Beautiful poem, it conjures a picture in my mind.

Why did the Goose cross the road?? Here in NJ, (where they decided to stay year round too because people feed them!)... That answer would be, to get to a golf course! Hehehe!

I always love seeing the "babies" in the spring. So darn sweet! One can forget for a few moments how messy they are. Great pictures.

Ahh, kudos indeed to Mother Goose for protecting the brood, walking on the upstream side of the traffic lane. A trusty guardian for her young she is.

Nice shot
Wheatman

I lived near Kalamazoo when I was young,(50's and 60's) and we often went to the Kellog Bird Sanctuary. As I recall they had a display telling about the Canadian Goose and how in the thirties, I think it was, the goose was in danger of extinction, and how through good consevation efforts, it was making a comeback. Well it certainly made a comeback didn't it, they are a pest in many areas now. I do agree though, they are a beautifull bird, and the little ones are cute.

Geese sure are good at making more geese.

11 in the road but I think I see 12 in the water !

I have another picture of the geese all walking down the beach to the water and there are actually 13 goslings, a "baker's dozen"! The road picture, a couple got cut off, but I'm not sure where the 13th one is in the water scene. Thanks for all the nice comments. Seeing the pictures on here helped me to relive my mini vacation all over again....aren't memories great!!

Every year my family and I go to copper Harbor where our cabin is located. Every time 6 familys of ducks come over and lay on our beach and get feed by my brother and I. It's almost like there humans they come exactly when humans would eat breakfest, lunch, and dinner plus snacks. But then when we feed them all the stupid sea gulls come and steal the food from the poor hungry ducks! Last year one baby duck walked up to me and sat in my hand! I was so touched it was so cute!

Racheal: Where did you say your cabin was?
I'm hungry for ducklings.
Isn't this time of year grand?
Boatloads of rain and wicked storms again
here in Missouri. But, the rivers are up and
running so the boaters will be floating.
Soon, we'll have Minnesota's state bird
wanting to suck the life's blood from us in ugly
proportions. Thankfully, my trained
mosquito-hunting birds are loyal and on duty.
Enjoy the "strawberry" moon on Saturday.
Good night to all in the UP and elsewhere!

[Everybody Sing!]

Birds do it
Bees do it
Even Yoopers in the trees do it