Thursday, April 17, 2008

   day 3
I have to do this every day. -sigh- What did I get myself into? My ribs hurt from all the walking. I'll have to re-wrap them. Se la ve. Yes, Linden, this is real, lol. I'm surprised you found it fascinating. Most find it boring. Even I do sometimes and it's my own research.

Today:
My plan of action is going to be always go see Ember and Fennel while the kids are at school and the majority of people are at work. I got ready to go see Ember when my mom pulled in and said Ember looked really hungry. I brought the last slice of bread with me. I didn't see Fennel in the pond near the nest, but that's because he was grazing in someone's front yard. He was about thirty feet from the nest. I sat near the nest. Ember hissed at me. This is actually a very good thing. I want her to be protective of the nest, no matter who is near it. I tossed her a few peices of bread. One went down rough since the bread was not soaked first. A passerby asked about her eggs, I said there were five, although when she stood up there may've been six. I counted four but saw others. It was either number five and six or five and one since yesterday there was at least five. It was difficult with her shadow but it looked like two white and two off-white of the four I counted. If that's true, taken with the colors before, then there are at least six eggs. Ember was still having trouble with that one piece of bread, so I got her a dish of water. She drank at least five mouthfuls. The nest isn't near water at all, so that dish is all she'll have. I'm sure geese can go awhile without food and water because of their nesting habits. She was able to spit at the water bottle after her drink.

Notes:
Fennel is a lot calmer if you see Ember first. I saved him about half the slice. Bread isn't the best food for a goose and it's even worse when they're nesting. I can't have her getting too heavy or she'll crush the eggs in her attempt to be a good mother. This is the pair's first clutch so they don't know certain things like proper nest location, obviously, or how to maintain weight. Fennel is such a cutie. He looks like he really wants to be near Ember but she's just so moody. All ganders have to keep their distance when their goose is nesting, but since he's new at this he looks a little forelorn. There are also three pairs in my own pond. I'm fairly sure one is Attila and Lilith, the founders of the Fire Group, and Ember's parents. I stuck with papers so I didn't have time to check it out. There are also two pairs and a single in one of the nearby ponds. Privet property signs stopped me from seeing of one was my Basil, so I'll just have to go at a later time. The single with those two might be the female for the single gander in another privet pond. Since I wasn't close enough to see if it was a goose, I'm not sure. But the lone gander is alone because his leg is either sprained or broken. He limps horribly and won't use it when he swims. Other then that, he's a big healthy gander so should have a mate. I'm ninty percent sure he isn't Basil. Injuries can really change behavor though.

SGAH
FYWR
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