Canada Goose: Nesting

About a week ago, I rowed into an inlet (Segment 9) and startled a gander who honked vociferously at me. He swam to the bank a little further into the inlet and joined a goose on the shore. I didn’t given it another thought.

A few days later, I pulled into the shore in the same inlet and spent some time photographing rhododendron flowers; this is an area that would be challenging to get to on foot. As I pulled away from the shore, I happened to look to the left and found that I had been sitting less than 10 m from the nest.

It's always fascinated me that Canada geese nest in such open locations. In spite of the nest being as exposed as this one, it is really quite well camouflaged. The goose blends into her surroundings by adopting a low profile pose that doesn't expose her light breast and her characteristic white neck patch that is visible in this photo.

The goose is sitting tight now. The gander is nowhere in sight - obviously not hanging around the inlet to give away the location of the nest. I’ll be giving the area a wide berth for the next month or so.
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