THE GREYLAG GOOSE

We are experiencing torrential rain and cold blustery winds. Last night my watering can which had water inside, and a long handled brush and pan, were blown from one side of my balcony to the other, and the branch that held one of my hanging feeders snapped and to my dismay I couldn't find the metal feeder anywhere on my balcony  so eventually when the rainstorm became less intense I went outside and found it on the ground covered in soggy soil. I went to find my trusty grabber and managed to dislodge it from where it had fallen in the middle of a Camellia bush. I was so pleased to find it in tact, as over the years it's the only one that has stood the test of time, except for the base, which a squirrel managed to unscrew from both sides where it was held in place, and ran away with it. I heard a noisy commotion outside my small bedroom window, and could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the squirrel with the base in it's mouth. then it scampered away over the roof. After trying several lids from my jars and tins of face cream, I discovered that the lid of a small Nivea tin fitted perfectly, and my daughter in law Paula who likes fixing things went to my late husband's workshop and found the tools with which to punch four holes around the sides and the wire to hold it in place.

This is the feeder with the original base.

This is my feeder now.

I always bang on the window when I see the squirrels at the feeder

On Tuesdays my daughter Eva comes for lunch, and if the weather is good we go for a drive. It had just stopped raining, so after lunch we set off without any particular destination in mind, but it didn't matter as it's always nice to be with my daughter anywhere. As Eva drove down the road we suddenly saw a fox near the gate of a nearby house, so we stopped and I got out of the car to take photos. It soon became apparent however that it was not a live fox but a taxidermized fox. The lady of the house saw our interest in the fox, and told us it was twenty three years old, and she had put it outside for an airing.

We decided to stay close to home, in case it started raining again, and went to the park in the centre of town where we saw various pigeons.

Eva spotted the sleeping pigeons before I did.

I photographed them individually for a closer look.

This pigeon looked so cosy in the niche it had found.

The park is really small. You can walk through it in any direction in just five minutes. There were three geese by the pond, two Greylag geese and one Domestic goose. I took several photos of the Greylag geese to share, and just three of the white Domestic goose. 

 

The only birds we saw apart from the pigeons were blackbirds, plus sparrows, and finches but the blackbirds I can capture at home, and the sparrows and finches were difficult to capture as they were in the bushes and trees.

The scientific name for the Greylag goose is anser anser

We were standing on the bridge over the pond, looking down at the geese, so to get a better perspective, I decided just to make portraits.

We used to have a couple of Greylag geese on the farm, as guard geese, to sound the alert by it's loud crackling noise if a fox was raiding the hen coop.

With the help of a magnifying glass I could see that the number was 3 4 7.

The Domestic goose, anser anser domestic.

Not a flattering portrait. :=)

Sticking your tongue out is rude, but you are forgiven because of your beautiful eyes.

A  sleeping Greylag goose

One more pigeon capture taken in the park and then we both felt peckish so as our favourite confectioners was closed, we went to another which we had become patrons of and had tea, and the cakes were really delicious. I then purchased some Parma ham and a freshly baked croissant for my dinner. Happy Days!