I LIKE BABIES

I found some more BABIES!



It looks like some Canada geese have managed to hatch some chicks this year. I saw one pair with a single chick...


And one pair with two chicks (only one of them is in this shot). Note the distinctive foot-hole one of the parents has.
I recently looked up the City of Oakland's report on Canada Goose management and learned that they are no longer trying to suppress breeding of geese (if they ever were), because the permanent resident geese don't create as strong a health hazard (=mounds of nasty poo everywhere) as the hundreds of migrant geese which spend summer at the lake.

Also, since they can't fly, the baby geese can only get on land in certain areas of the lake (like the beaches, and a few areas where the retaining wall is graded) and so that's where the babies are most likely to be found. These guys were hanging out in the boathouse parking lot.

Also found: one adorable DUCKLING PILE! These guys were sleeping in the shadow of a cement planter. I think it's the same little family of 8 I photographed earlier, with its single blonde member. They look a bit sleeker this week, less fluffy.