Nikon D700 | Nikon 70 - 200 mm f2.8 VRII lens |ISO 200 1/640 sec @f6.3

First of all, I realize these images were not shot correctly.  I was shooting towards the late afternoon sun which caused the wildlife to be back lit and that is not good,  but the damn Geese wouldn’t move for me so I had no choice. 🙂

I was headed home and as usual I took the Hurstville road, which goes by “Duck Pond.”  I think I mentioned a few days ago that there are new baby geese everywhere around the pond and as I drove by I saw mom and dad with their babies in the field next to the pond.  By the time I found a place to park and got my camera they were already on their way back to the water.

Nikon D700 | Nikon 70 - 200 mm f2.8 VRII lens |ISO 200 1/640 sec @f6.3

I really don’t know which goose is the mother and which is the father, but the one on the right seemed to be taking the lead and watching me carefully while the one on the left seemed to be paying more attention to the little ones.  That led me to believe the mother was on the left and the father was on the right.  Not that it makes any difference, just an observation.

Nikon D700 | Nikon 70 - 200 mm f2.8 VRII lens |ISO 200 1/640 sec @f6.3

Finally back to the safety of the pond the new family headed north to the more open waters of the pond.  The eventually climbed up on one of the little islands, where I suspect they have their nest. The little ones are cute and stay in pretty tight formation behind dad.

Nikon D700 | Nikon 70 - 200 mm f2.8 VRII lens |ISO 200 1/640 sec @f6.3

I wanted to get this isolation image of the babies to show as a close up.  There were at least 6 families of Geese out with their little ones.  There is another huge wetland across 61 highway and I went over there and saw another 3 families.  So the goose population (at least in the Maquoketa area) seems to be thriving.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful and have a great Hump Day