19th October 2008 : March of the Goslings

I've been putting off doing a gosling update because there's so much to catch up on, but of course the longer I leave it, the more there is to write, so now I have no option but to bite the bullet and give you the first installment, which will take us up to 19th September...yes, I know that's a month ago, but a lot has been going on and the second installment in this gosling saga will bring you fully up to date in due course...

Last time we spoke of them, you'll remember we were following the lives of two Egyptian Geese and their brood of 13 goslings.

You may also recall that in the past, I have spoken of our Spur-winged Plovers, and their often less-than-inspired choice of nesting site. As you know, these plovers nest on the riverbanks, without a nest as such - they merely scrape a few twigs and pebbles together and lay their eggs right there on the sand. I know you'll remember the tribulations we've been through with our plovers before, seeing the river wash away their nest and then watching (in horror!) as the baboons ate another clutch of eggs earlier this year...not to mention the heart-wrenching tale of the plover family further upstream which I followed in October last year. It's a tough life being a plover parent, but you've got to admit they could make things easier by being a little more discerning when choosing a nest location!

So, with this background information, you will understand why I could not help but resort to Victor Meldrew's* famous catchphrase "I don't believe it" when I saw the interplay between goslings and plovers on 5th September.

I noticed the troop of goslings on the far side of the river being harassed by a plover and I thought at first that the plover was just acting in true character and pestering the goslings for no good reason at all.

But upon closer inspection (and I could not believe my eyes!), I then saw the plover settling down on a nest, on a tiny rock right in the middle of the river! It was this nest that it had been protecting from the "marauding" goslings.

I was dumbfounded. What kind of offspring do the plovers think they are producing? Ones which can SWIM? That is if the eggs were to survive on that puny island in the first place, for the river would only have to rise by one inch to sweep the nest away. But the plovers seemed intent on nesting (although it would also seem the wrong time of year, for the rains are not due until late October/early November).

To push the point, the plover pair mated continuously for a couple of days (despite the fact the river did come up by a few inches that night, and the nest-to-be was washed away, at which point the relentless birds started creating another one on a sand island...again hoping to produce swimmers, it would seem.) Honestly, these birds are enough to give you heart palpitations, and I'm merely an observer!

Here they are, still at it on the 8th September, three days after the gosling showdown

In the end, it transpired the plovers were merely show-mating and show-nesting, for this ritual of mating and pretending to build nests in the most ridiculous locations went on for a couple of weeks, with no results to show for it. Quite why plovers do this, I do not know...

Do you remember the shenanigans we witnessed as this current brood of goslings displaced the one that was on this stretch of river before? Well, we found the displaced brood, a month older than our brood of 13. They have moved further upstream to Hippo Bend, where five of them survive and on 8th September were looking big and strong and almost ready to fly:

I watched an amusing little charade on the morning of September 15th, as two of our goslings became separated from the rest of their family. These two were walking up and down the riverbank, as if in confusion while the rest of the family were out in the river on a sandbank (and making no effort to come to them, I might add.)

At last the stranded pair remembered their swimming legs, and launched themselves into the water, at which point the others swam towards them and they were all happily re-united, all thirteen goslings and two parents.

We all know how belligerent Egyptian Geese can be, and fiercely protective of their territorial waters...which makes it all the more strange to me that, when the river came up slightly on the 16th September, I saw nine or ten adult geese on the sandbank, all happily feeding and dozing together, without even the hint of animosity. It didn't last long, for the next day they were all back to their noisy bickering again. What a strange bunch, these geese!

As we end this installment of the gosling tale, we still have thirteen healthy young things, seen here behind a nonplussed Dikkop and a Common Sandpiper, newly returned to our river...

*For those of you who aren't British and have not been privy to British comedy, Victor Meldrew is a grumpy old man in a famous British sitcom called 'One Foot in the Grave'. As he endlessly complains about the state of the world, his catchphrase "I don't belieeeeeve it" is never far from his lips!

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