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:
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!
These magnolia blossoms hardly seem real, they are so perfect! They look more like a bridal headpiece, don't they?
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.
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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