Of Goslings, Ducklings and Cygnets

It's that time of year when baby waterbirds are hatching and filling our area waters with cuteness and new life. Each brood may have a dozen or even more little ones but unfortunately a high percentage of those may be lost to predation.Baby geese such as these Canada geese are called goslings. Baby ducks are ducklings and baby swans are cygnets. You will rarely find them all in the same area, especially with swans. Swans are extremely protective and territorial and chase other birds from the area. You may see geese and ducks nesting in the same area but usually not very close to each other. Both may nest close to water, fresh or salt, and both are also known to sometimes nest in odd places like people's backyards.
These two geese are lining up to watch from both sides to be sure I don't get any closer. These shots were taken with a zoom lens--I was really quite far away.
These little goslings are probably only a few days old. They are not fishing, by the way. They are eating plant material from the bottom of the pond. When they are in deeper water you may see the adults really stirring things up and bringing plant material to the surface for the little ones to graze on. Mallards and swans dot the same thing for they are also plant eaters, not fish eaters. These goslings were spotted last week in Provinctown.

Have you seen any baby birds yet?