Amazing Day at Horicon Marsh

Here are some pictures from yesterday: the blond squirrel and the blond deer. These are not so good because I didn't have my good camera with me.

Today was a most amazing day at Horicon Marsh. First we went to the part where we always see the white-headed goose (which may be a gander), and there were several families of geese with fuzzy little goslings. Alas, our buddy did not have any with him, but he did come over to us! Almost like a tame goose. He looks as if a mad scientist sewed the head and neck of a barnyard goose onto the body of a Canada goose, and maybe he is part barnyard goose and so a little more tame. I actually did some research on goose hybrids, and it turns out all species of geese can hybridize with each other because they have 40 pairs of chromosomes, and they often do because of "nonconsensual mating" (what we call "rape" in human society), and because mother geese will lay their eggs in another goose's nest. If the mother happens to be a snow goose but the nest belongs to a Canada goose, the gosling grows up imprinted on a Canada goose, and that's who he wants to mate with. Our buddy clearly thinks he is a Canada goose. The question I could not find an answer for is whether he would be fertile, and the fact that he has no goslings makes me sad, but he still appears to have a mate on the nest, so maybe the eggs just haven't hatched yet.

Here are some photos from both Travalon's good camera and mine.

Then we went to the hill and walked down along the marsh, and we saw some pelicans.

We also saw this sandhill crane hanging out with Canada geese.

I wanted to go to a spot where we had seen two swans, in case they happened to be there again. They weren't, but we did see three pelicans flying overhead. I am amazed that an animal can be so magnificent and yet so goofy. Then we went to the part of the marsh with the boardwalk, and when we were almost to the parking lot, I spotted what in technical parlance is know as a big-@$$ bird. It was bright white and as tall as I am. We pulled over, and Travalon got these shots of the elusive whooping crane - what I consider the "Holy Grail" of birdwatching at Horicon Marsh.

We also saw this cute duck, which another couple who had also been stalking the whooping crane said was called a scaub.

Just in case we hadn't seen enough pelicans, we came to a spot with dozens of these gorgeous, large, white birds in the evening sunlight. I love how some of them look like they are having the worst hair day!

To give you an idea of how many pelicans were on this particular part of the marsh, here are a couple of photos from up above, looking down at them.

On the way home, we passed this hill, which doesn't seem to have a name on any of the many maps I have consulted.

Travalon and I have decided to call it "Mount Wank," after a real mountain in Germany. The real Mount Wank has a chalet on it called the Wankhaus, and it looks gorgeous. We would love to visit it someday. But for now we will have to settle for driving by our own local Mount Wank!

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