The World’s Saddest Goose

For ten years a pair of geese have staked out a nesting place on an inlet of the river. They arrive early, just a few days after the swans, and act as sentinels to guard their spot. Their violent antics have no effect on the swans, but somewhat deter the ducks. Once they’re established, the geese quiet down, but stay on guard. In ten years they have never produced goslings that I have seen. A couple of days before this photo, the parents proudly showed off a brood of five. This lone goose showed the following day and the next day and the next. It became clear then that it was the lone survivor of predators, its spouse dying to save the goslings.