Three teenage Egyptian goslings, plus parent

It was sunny and hot on Sunday afternoon and I made a bit of a mistake by going for a walk in a large London park.  It was choc-a-bloc with people, of course, and quite unpleasant - but I was there and so made the best of it.

I was on the look-out for wildlife and enjoyed watching a parent Egyptian Goose with three young goslings.

One made itself look very pretty by floating into the centre of some greenery.  It actually attempted to eat this, but was very unsuccessful.

It's siblings were doing the sensible thing and were eating at the water's edge.  They paid no attention at all to the people on the bank who were watching them.

The swimming Egyptian gosling gave up and joined the rest of the family at the edge of the water.  I think it is shown in the photograph below, but can't be sure as all three of them look very similar.

Mum, or maybe it was dad, was with them and also enjoying food and drink at the water's edge cafe.

Below is a photograph of the three youngsters, two of them still eating, and the parent.  Not long after I took this photograph, the whole family swam off across the lake.

Egyptian Goose family in the daisies

In May the grass near the lake in the park was covered with white daisies and, from a distance, it looked just like snow.  During one of the days when I taking my camera for a walk (it's not as demanding as a dog, so I don't go out every day) I saw an Egyptian Goose with her babies.  Most of the youngsters were busy scouring the ground for food.

In the photo below, 2 goslings are on the left and the parent is keeping watch on what they are up to.

There are less flowers in this patch of grass and 3 Egyptian youngsters are still busy looking for food.

The parent now has it's back turned on the young Egyptians.  Two are still searching for food, while another two are having a rest in the "snow".

 It is time for one youngster to have a preen while the other is still on the look-out for a nibble.

One of the babies did not really join in the food search and spent the whole time resting and in a world of it's own.

Eventually the parent got annoyed with the crowd that had formed on the path in front of the family and started some loud quacking, which sent the youngsters through the nettles and into the water.  They were joined by a wandering Coot or Moorhen - I can't really tell which one it is from the view of it's back.

Then the parent also hot-footed it away from the watchers on the path and left us with just a patch of daisies.