Tuesday I went outside just to stroll around with the camera when I noticed a pair of geese at the end of our dam.......I looked again, and realized they had babies with them! These were not born on our lake! I think they must have been born on the lake next door and then the parents walked through the woods to our lake with them. As soon as they saw me, the parents hit the water with their 3 little babes and swam to the end of the woods.
There they climbed out and walked along the grass....leaving the babies down below because they couldn't get up that high! Before I left home "mom" was back down with them and I think they must have walked around until they got past the high part, because the whole family disappeared somewhere......off to another pond, I guess.
I was headed to the wetlands to show my niece the turtles on the logs. Of course I also took pictures of other things.....oak leaves coming out and Red-wing blackbirds and sparrows in the cattails.
When we reached the lake area and the boardwalk, we realized that there were 2 pair of geese on the far side that both had babies! This was certainly my day for seeing baby geese....lots of them!
Then we watched the turtles on the logs......not as many as the previous trip, but still several batches of them.
I took this picture to show the difference in size between these two! I'm not a turtle expert, so I don't know.....is the big one a snapping turtle?
Here is his close-up! I think he is the "Grandfather Turtle" :-) He was really big. On the way back to the car was when I saw that beautiful Prothonotary Warbler that I posted as soon as I got home. It was a good day for nature.
%2B(2).jpg)
9 comments:
From what I remember, geese always move to a new pond after their babies are hatched, never to go back to the nesting pond. I've seen that happen year after year on our pond.
That big old granddaddy of a turtle certainly has the face of a snapping turtle but the shell looks different. Every snapper I've seen has a very rough and patterned shell.
Gotta go google that.....I'm back with the info goodies!
Yep, that's a snapping turtle. The one you photographed is a ~Common snapping turtle~. The one I'm familiar with is an ~~Alligator snapping turtle~. You can see a pic of both here: http://www.chelydra.org/common_alligator_snapping_turtle.html
As always great pics. Mary!
Wonderful pictures, as always, Mary! I love the baby geese especially! Thank you for sharing.
I saw the first baby geese of the season here last night, but my mom was in the car so we couldn't stop to take pictures.
By the way, I posted the strange bird behavior pictures while you were gone. If you look under "Recent Backyard Stuff" you'll see them.
Have a great day!
Annie: Thanks for all that helpful information! I always wondered about the geese moving around. We've had them hatch babies on our pond before and then disappear overnight and I always wondered where they went! Glad to know about the turtle, too. He was really big! I would not want him "snapping" at me!
Sandpiper: I did see your bird behavior post and thought I left a comment,but I'm still having that weird computer problem, so my commenting has been pretty hit and miss the last week. I hope we solve it soon! I think we have a glitch in Internet Explorer and maybe just need to update. That wasa really weird the way all of those birds chose to lay down in your leaf pile....sort of like catnip and cats :-) The anting behavior was interesting, too!
Well that is so adorable the geese and the babies. Great turtle shots. I'm whining now. I never see turtles out here ..
sandy
Sandy: I don't normally see turtles, but this wetlands has an abundance :-) Went back today and saw no warblers, no turtles and only one goose. Ah, well.
That does look like a big turtle but I don't think its a Snapper. Did you get a look at it tail? The tail of a Snapping Turtle reminds me of a prehistoric creature for it has raised ridges on it. I always think of a Stegrosaurus when I see one. The baby chicks are very sweet.
Me and My Camera: I didn't see it's tail....it stayed in that position and then slid into the water when I tried to get a little closer. I wondered if it was tortoise of some sort.
Mary- You've got three species of turtles in your photos. The big one is a common snapping turtle. The other hard shelled turtles are of two species. The ones that are a bit smaller and have red on their shells are painted turtles, of which subspecies I can't tell and that depends on your geographic location. The other bigger turtles are red-eared sliders, which are native in some places of the country but are not native to other parts. Great images!
Tom @ Ohio Nature
Thanks Tom!
Post a Comment