One of the things we like in Palmyra right now is all of the Canadian Geese have come back to nest and raise their families here along the Erie Canal and every other pond and lake around….and there are plenty of those to go around.  We have a pair of geese (they mate for life) here at the Facilities Management pond.  The babies grow so quickly.  Here they are one week ago.

And here they are again, yesterday, one week later, almost as big as the parents.

This pair only has 3 goslings, but over at the Temple President’s home there are 3 pair of geese with a total of about 19 goslings.  It has been fun to watch the parents taking care of, guarding and teaching their young how to survive.  The other day we watched a pair teaching their 6 goslings how to “take off” from the water.  The goslings don’t even have their flight wings yet, but they were practicing “running” on the top of the water which is what they do just before takeoff.  The whole lesson thing was interesting.  The father goose watches for any sign of danger with his long neck stretched out as tall as possible.  The mother goose gathers her goslings around her and somehow, I don’t know how, she gives directions.  Then the goslings spread out and all at the exact same time they “perform” and then return to the mother for further instructions and it all begins over again.  They practiced diving and taking off from the water without actually taking off.