I have gotten sidetracked, I should have started the Lonesome George series and stuck with it all the way through. If you remember, Lonesome George is an injured Canada Goose that was forced to take up residence on the banks of one of the ponds near where I used to live, if you would like a refresher, here's a link to my first post about him. My excuse for letting myself get sidetracked is that many of the photos aren't that good. Most of them were taken at too great of distance and under poor lighting conditions, but they do tell the story of what happened, and I do think that's worth posting these photos.
George injured his wing in July, and had been grounded for a month as I pick the story up again. I walked up to the pond, and there was George working on his injured wing.
Lonesome George, the injured Canada goose
Molly the mallard, George's constant sidekick, was just out of the frame, feeding in the shallow water of the pond, when a small flock of geese landed on the other side of the pond.
Canada geese landing
This was the first time that I had seen other geese at the same pond as George, and I was wondering if George would join them, thinking it would be good for him to have other birds of the same species around. Silly me, the geese soon formed a battle line and headed for George. Molly the mallard, being much wiser than myself, saw what was happening, and rushed to put herself between George and the approaching geese.
Lonesome George and Molly
As the other geese approached, I could hear Molly squawking at them, even as the geese were honking away at her and George.
Molly the mallard trying to defend Lonesome George
Being injured, George was in no condition to fight off the geese, so he turned to go into the tall weeds to hide, as Molly tried to stand her ground, and protect him.
Molly the mallard protecting Lonesome George
George made it to his favorite hiding spot...
Lonesome George hiding in the tall grass
...even as Molly stood her ground.
Molly the mallard trying to fend off a flock of geese
Of course a lone female mallard is no match for a lone goose, let alone a flock of geese, but bless her heart, Molly stood there squawking at the geese, doing the best she could. For their part, the geese seemed to be content to have chased George off into the tall grass, and they just hung around on shore for a while, eventually flying off again.
A couple of days later as I approached the pond, I could see George and Molly were there, as always, and Craig the cormorant had returned, perched in his favorite spot.
Craig the cormorant?
Or was it Craig? Another cormorant swam into view, headed for the one perched on the old fountain.
Two cormorants
The two cormorants seemed to be conversing...
Two cormorants deciding which one would attack
..and the one swimming went to the other corner of the pond to chase off a great blue heron hunting along the shore.
A double crested cormorant chasing a great blue heron away
This heron made no attempt to fight back, as had the one in the first installment of the Lonesome George series had, but simply retreated into the taller brush to hunt for rodents.
With the heron chased back away from the pond, the cormorant returned to the one that was perched.
Two double crested cormorants
The swimming cormorant must have thought that having done the heavy work of chasing the heron off entitled him to the perch, but the one already on the perch wasn't willing to give it up.
Two double crested cormorants
Two double crested cormorants fighting
Two double crested cormorants fighting
Two double crested cormorants fighting
Two double crested cormorants fighting
Two double crested cormorants fighting
Two double crested cormorants fighting
Two double crested cormorants fighting
While the two cormorants were dueling for the perch, the heron had taken advantage of the fact that the cormorants were distracted, and had returned to the shore of the pond. Then, a third cormorant arrived, buzzing the heron on the way by...
A double crested cormorants dive bombing a great blue heron
...before landing in the pond.
A double crested cormorants landing
The third cormorant began diving for fish....
A double crested cormorant with a fish
A double crested cormorant with a fish
Even tossing the fish into the air and catching them on the way down...
A double crested cormorant with a fish
At this point, I think I will break off for now, or I will overwhelm you all with my bad photography. You will see that it was a busy day at the pond, so stayed tuned for Part II, and the arrival of even more players to this saga, when things really heat up, and the action is non-stop!
That's it for this one, thanks for stopping by!
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