Saturday, May 02, 2009

Magnolias, Mother Goose, Baby Geese (goslings) Lake Ontario Shore,

I've been watching for the magnolias at Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens (BRG) in Port Credit (Ontario, Canada) to come into flower, and today I could see that most of them were in bloom. But what I didn't expect to see were the goslings on the other side of the park. First the magnolias:

Brueckner Memorial Magnolia with Robin
Here's the small magnolia tree just at the entrance to BRG. At it's base is a small plaque honouring the late Dr. Joseph Brueckner, whose rhodos (or what's left of them) grace the park that now carries his name. A robin alighted for a few minutes and I am thrilled I actually got his photo!

Magnolia Tree in Bloom - Close Up
These magnolia blossoms hardly seem real, they are so perfect! They look more like a bridal headpiece, don't they?

Girl with Goslings ~ Lake Ontario Beach
As I walked up the path and over the top of the hill, I could hear voices. Coming closer, I peeked over the edge of the bank that drops off to the beach on Lake Ontario. There, this young girl had gotten closer to the Goose Family than I was able to.

Canada Goose and Goslings Close Up
I did get the picture above, though, and took a short video (below). I cropped the original large image to get this close up view. The goslings' new feathers had a greenish cast, and looked very fluffy. We're a bit surprised to see goslings this old at this time of year -- it is a little early -- but with the random hot spells the past few weeks, I was pretty sure all the birds had been nesting.

Here's the video I took -- just a short one, with my little Canon digital. I was about 20 feet from them, and used the zoom, so it's a little shaky -- sorry! But at the very end, one of the goslings does this little wing flap -- so cute! I stitched the two short videos with iMovie.

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