Birds from Walden Canada Geese

Canada geese

As I sat staring at the water in deep thought I heard a noise from far away getting closer. It was the unmistakable honking of a pair of Canada geese flying directly towards the pond in anticipation of a late afternoon swim.

Canada Geese are graceful for their size and when they arrive, they come in like flying ninjas. Originally appearing as if they will land on the ground feet first, but alas they opt for the water.

They immediately look like they were swimming in the pond for hours already.

They can be seen careening their necks back and forth in order to move in the water. After some time the geese eventually step out of the water to dry off in the sun as they walk over to the lily pads searching for frogs.

Awestruck by this treasure provided by nature, I noticed the bird staring back at me and not moving for 30 minutes and then it went into the water again.

After the staring contest, the geese swam around for a bit longer and then it was time.

More squawking meant they were calling radio control in the form of the red-winged blackbird to announce take-off. 

After being cleared by the control tower to the west, the 2 geese squawked louder and faster. They positioned themselves at the far eastern edge of the pond.

They started flapping their wings faster and got even louder before eventually becoming airborne and barely clearing the tree line as they flew towards the setting sun. And like that, they were gone until the next time.

Geese are the closest thing to a jet plane that we find in the Animal kingdom. The 747 jumbo jet was most surely modelled after someone watched this marvel of engineering in amazement.