Fun Friday: Yellow Lint Balls

Ahh, another glorious Friday and … time for another Fun Friday! Yesterday I made my first kayak trip in over a week! Because of all the cold and wet Missouri weather we’ve had lately, it just hasn’t been conducive to kayaking with photo equipment, but yesterday was the day. It was a bit windy, but my Kayak Fever overrode this annoyance and out the door I went.

One of the highlights of this outing was experienced while sitting near the bank, photographing warblers that were very active. I must have sat at this location for at least 10 minutes when I noticed something in the undergrowth that looked familiar, yet unidentifiable! As I stared at it, it began to move a bit. It was only then that I realized I was watching a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) that appeared to be sitting on a nest. As I scanned the nearby areas, I noticed a second one about 10 feet away. Since the warbler action was at a temporary lull, I decided to move the kayak a few feet to get a better view of the goose on the nest. But immediately she stood up and headed away from me (due to all our recent rains, there was standing water on the backside of the dry land she was on). At the same time, the second goose got up and swam the same direction. Then I noticed a flurry of action … seemingly “yellow lint balls” on the move. Ah, the goose was not sitting on a nest, but was keeping her newly-hatched brood warm! I immediately backed away and left mom and dad to their parenting chores!

But as they all swam away, I grabbed a couple of photos for this Fun Friday post. You will notice that I was shooting into the sun … not a great way to get photos, but obviously, no choice in the matter. But the backlighting effect of the sun on the “yellow lint balls” does exhibit an interesting touch, particularly in the first image! By the way, I managed to get some nice warbler images that I will post early next week. Meanwhile, here are the gosling images:

 

Canada Goose with newbie Goslings

 

Canada Goose with newbie Goslings

 

 

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