Which is which?

Leaving me to sort out my variety of problems on Friday, Grant went off to lunch in Schuylerville with our neighbour. Inevitably, they had to pass through Greenwich and on the way home, stopped to see what what happening on the Battenkill.

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Any other day, we’d probably have jumped in the car and gone back to make sure. That we did not is an indication of how crook I was feeling, since animal or bird sightings may normally be counted on to rouse me from any kind of slump.

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Overnight, happily, the worst effects of the medication had worn off and Saturday morning saw us at the riverbank where of course, there was no bar-headed goose.

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But there was a very pretty tree.

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Across the river, one of my favourite ducks.

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His wife was a little hard to spot until she rose up out of the water.

Such a handsome couple.

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Although it was an overcast morning, the light was harsh which darkens my glasses and limits my ability to see anything small or in shade, but Grant has no such problem and pointed me in the direction of a small goose family.

Mum and Dad kept watch with one small child while 3 others grazed on the shore.

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Not wanting to scare them I crept as quietly as possible through the woods.

But one of the vigilant adults heard me.

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“Right! Children! Time to go!”

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“We’re going now! We’ll leave you behind!”

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“If you don’t hurry up, I’ll come stick my beak up your bottoms!”

Such a crosspatch.

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“I also told you to come when you’re called. And not to answer back!”

Mum was inclined to be more patient, or perhaps she was less threatened by the lumbering human who dared to admire her brood.

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Finally all together, they paddled away.

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Swallows were swooping over the river and one performed a photo bomb.

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What do you think, was the anxious bird father or mother?

In that first photo, one of the babies is already close to an adult which is how I decided that it was the female. And that perhaps the male would be the more vigilant?

Which does not mean I’m right!

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