2007-2009

In late 2006, I began walking as much as possible in order to continue outside, what I had been learning off and on inside with physical therapy since 2000. I'd had a ten and a half hour long back surgery on March 23, 2000, as many of you know. . .I still have the scrap book containing all your well-wishes and go back to it from time to time as a reminder of God's goodness in people -

anyway, I digress. . .I had to start walking again because of three more fractures in my spine - this time in the wingbones, as it were - the pedicle bones that contained a total of six screws, three on each side - which had broken twice as a result of trauma - one, an assault in early 2006, the other, over-climbing during the summer of 2006 while again, doing physical therapy outside the PT's offices.

The pressure of the screws on the nerve root endings made it necessary for me to exercise and walk, in order to hopefully move them off the nerve root endings.

So, by early 2007, though I was getting stronger, I had bad days and good.

Seven years to the date of my first surgery, I was walking along some headland trails in mid-afternoon, enjoying the wildflowers:

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And the Red-winged Blackbirds that were courting:

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when I came upon a lone Canada Goose, just standing on a cliff, seemingly staring out to sea:

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It was as if he were waiting for something. . .I didn't know what:

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Many thoughts and questions went through my mind. Did he lose a mate? Was he waiting for his flock? Was he injured and couldn't fly? Why was he allowing me to get so close?

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As I wondered, he suddenly and totally unexpectedly, plopped down and began to relax:

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Right there on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean! Blew me away. Here was a wild bird that let me get close! How strange!

Of course, the thoughts that perhaps he was raised by people entered my mind more than once, especially as he allowed me to take close up shots of his head:

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Suddenly, he flew off to the east; it was starting to get dark out, so of course, I figured he'd given up his vigil for another day. . .

The next day, I had to bring a friend. It was cold and blustery out, but she managed these shots of me and my friend:

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Of course, I got my own shot of him as he walked through "Footsteps of Spring" flowers:

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April 16, 2007 - I became a grandmother on that day - my oldest son's wife gave birth to a baby boy. . .

I decided to go back to that area where to goose was and he was back, sitting on another cliff, facing north west:

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He suddenly stood and flew off:

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So I wandered the cliffs for a while, looking at odd things like Blister Beetles:

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and Checkerspot caterpillars, eating the Mendocino Indian Paintbrush flowers:

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and fun stuff like Whimbrels, dancing on the shore:

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and the turning of plumage of the Black Turnstones, from winter to breeding:

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I wandered back to the cliffs to find them empty of any sign other than poop, of the gander.

Then I heard honking, so I looked behind me. There, flying in, were not one, but TWO, Canada Geese:

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They circled around me:

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Then landed right in front of me, on the cliff and began walking to the edge!

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It was the same gander as on March 23rd; he has a special pattern on his cheek patch that the other goose didn't have.

He seemed in a hurry, as he escorted her to the cliff's edge. I couldn't think where they were going. . .it was odd, to say the least.

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He even seemed protective of her, as he placed himself between her and I:

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He seemed to be driving her, somehow, when suddenly, she launched from the edge of the cliff:

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He quickly followed:

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They were flying to a flat-topped rock out in the middle of the ocean!

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She settled down in the diminishing light and he stood guard not far away:

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Aha! They had a NEST on that rock!

She lay her head along her back and lay low for sunset:

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It was the last I saw of them. . .the next day, they were gone. . .

By February of the following year, 2008, I was back out on the headland trails, searching for these geese. I did find a lone Cackling Canada Goose:

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but no sign of what I was now calling 'My Friend, the Canada Goose'.

I took my first ever shot of a Northern Pintail Drake in flight that month:

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March 15, 2008 they were back!

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The female can be seen on the flat topped rock out in the water, while the gander stands guard in the foreground:

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But he also likes to SIT:

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March 20, 2008, I found him in a completely different location, but still within eye-shot of the nest rock:

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He seemed "OK" with my presence, and went back to grazing:

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April 2nd 2008 was an INTRUDER DAY! I couldn't believe what I witnessed....I had gone to visit the geese, the male was grazing on the cliffs amongst the wild flowers:

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and they were being harassed by two other pairs of geese...which landed, hissing and calling, on a rock not far from the nest rock:

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Ohhh, was Papa ever MAD! He landed over there too:

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One of them decided they'd better fly off after he'd landed:

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But they seemed so peaceful at times:

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There were two pairs that were harassing the one, but everything happened so quickly, I could only manage a few shots of each pair:

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Papa managed to chase them all off. Then he came back to where I sat, and began a vigorous 'victory preen' session after nibbling a few buttercups:

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April 14, 2008 . . . back again for a visit:

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He seems to be saying HI to me here:

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Actually, all he really wanted to do, was graze, but he kept looking warily over his shoulder at me until I finally left:

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That day was windy, so I didn't stay for too many shots. I probably should have, as that was the last day I saw them until. . . .

. . .March 18, 2009:

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It was cold and blustery, but he stood guard as always, facing the sea:

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A Peregrine Falcon even flew in for a look:

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But the goose wasn't bothered by the falcon. . .

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Or by the appearance of a rock dove, living in its natural habitat, even if not native to this continent:

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He just stands guard. . .

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And so, I leave the area to shoot more wild flower photos:

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Spring is definitely in the air here on the Northern California coast.

March 23, 2009, nine years since my back surgery - again, an anniversary, and he still stands at the cliffs, this time on a sunny day, straight, tall, proud:

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Mister Dirty Mouth:

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Taking a bow:

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I left to explore the trails after that. . .

to capture an image of a rare beauty, the North Coast Phacelia. ..Phacelia insularis var. continentis:

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And a still un-molted Black Turnstone:

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California Creamcups and Baby Blue Eyes:

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and of course, a Savannah Sparrow:

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I went back to see the gander. He was extremely agitated; the winds were picking up and as soon as I snapped this photo:

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He flew off......

I didn't go back for about three weeks. Firstly, I didn't want to bother him.

I also wanted to visit Mendocino, so on March 25th, I visited, despite the high winds, and got a shot of a raven over the cove:

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Back at Glass Beach on that same day, I got a shot of a Black Oystercatcher in the wind:

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On March 28th I took a trek up to the Ten Mile Dunes Preserve. . .my goal was to shoot wildflowers:

The Menzie's Wallflower is a rare species:

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I got my first ever shot of a Snowy Plover on that day:

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AND, I saw and photographed my first-ever Dutch Friesian as well!

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Secondly, I was leading smallish tours of an area beach, known for its glass due to its being the town dump in years gone by:

March 30th:

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In April, I continued trekking to the Glass Beach, shooting photos of more glass:

April 1st:

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April 4th:

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April 5th, near sunset, an interesting perspective of the moon and a double-Osprey nest in Noyo Harbor yielded this shot:

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We got a small series of storms after that, so Monday the 6th was too stormy to go out. The next day, I went back to Glass Beach, not so much forgetting about the geese, but rather, giving them some room to do their thing.

After the rain, April 7th:

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An unusual sight that day? Thunderheads. . .on the coast, in April:

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On April 11th, my daughter brought her new boyfriend over so we all went for a walk on the headland cliffs above Glass Beach.

BIRD FOOD!!: Platyprepia virginalis - tiger Moth larvae:

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VERY early in the morning on April 13th, as I was coming down with a severe cold, I met with an online friend at Glass Beach and showed her around. A gull decided we might be 'friends' but was really miffed at us for scaring him off a prize crab he'd gotten in the tide pools.

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The morning of April 14th, and dawn was breaking as another pair of online friends and I met at Glass Beach. This time, a pair of Harlequin Ducks were resting on a rock out of the high winds we'd been getting:

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I was too sick for the next day and a half to go anywhere.

Thursday morning, April 16th, I had a ton of errands to run. A friend was sick too, so I went to the store for them, picked up groceries and shopped for our church's soup kitchen (we hold it every Friday). After dropping my stuff off at the church and then at my friends, on a whim, despite feeling poorly from this chest cold, I decided to go see the goose.

As I hiked the trails, wildflowers were in abundance, so I took plenty of shots. . .

A favorite mix includes California Creamcups, a California Buttercup and Baby Blue Eyes:

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As I drew closer and closer to the nest rock, I saw people in the distance, on the cliff near there. They were standing, staring, pointing, then, walked immediately away.

Upon my arrival, I was disappointed to see that neither goose was in sight. The nest rock was empty. The cliff where the gander always stood, also empty. Oh, there were signs that both had been there; plenty of goose poop. LOL. . .but the geese? Well, I stood there, facing out to sea, near tears.....I had missed, yet again, the babies.

Then I heard a sound. "Honk honk honk" only very soft. I looked around in the sky. No geese. I looked around behind me on the headland fields. No geese. "Honk honk honk" a little louder now. WHERE were they?!!! I looked down, to the spot between the cliff's edge and the base of the nest rock. I spotted them!!! The male AND the female, were walking down off the side of that rock and did I see little yellow fluffballs following behind?!!! A closer look with the zoom on the lens and I was heading down that cliff side so quick I nearly slipped. Sweating, crying tears of joy at the sight, there was Mama and Papa, with 8 goslings, leading them into the tide pools!!! Coming my way!!!

Proud Mama:

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Papa leading the babies in the tide pools:

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A Mother's Guidance:

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Under Mama's watchful eye, the babies get up onto the shore, seaweed and everything:

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Climbing out of the second tide pools

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A Great Egret flew in and landed on the nest rock for a better look, and stayed there the entire time it took the Goose Family to move from the tide pools, to the shore and up onto the headland cliffs:

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The goslings explore the sea weed covered shore:

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First one out!

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Three Sweethearts:

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Papa then led them up the side of the cliffs, and onto the headland trails. . .

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They'd stop every so often to nibble on the grasses and wild flowers:

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I'd gotten down on my belly because they were too cute from that perspective. One of them stopped, and simply stared at me:

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Papa kept them moving with short grunt sounds he and the goose would make. . .

HAPPY GOSLINGS!

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Always a straggler. . .

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But they march on:

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A small gorge presented very little difficulty in navigation, even for these brand new babies, as Mama leads the way and Papa makes sure they're following:

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But at the bottom, near the water that ran through the gorge, the babies wanted to rest:

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Papa had other ideas, so they moved on to Virgin Creek, an area that was once, just a few years ago, a very large estuary that was sheltered from the winds and high tides, but just a year or so ago, changed to a trickle of a stream at the beach side, with the eastern most side becoming more the estuary and sheltered area.

Papa leads them swimming, through the creek:

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Mama, meanwhile, couldn't resist a bath:

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The babies get some learning time in:

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Then papa and mama lead them up over the side of a sand dune and back to the larger part of the creek, and finally to safety. (Mama still wet from her bath, in the lead).

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Hope you enjoyed this! I had fun putting it all together!

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