Mike Digout loves walking along the Saskatchewan riverbank in Saskatoon, Canada, where he often sees Canadian geese. He always brings his camera to take pictures of animals. One evening, he saw something so surprising that he had to grab his camera right away—a mother goose with 47 baby geese following her!
It all started in spring when the geese were looking for places to build their nests. Mike walked by the river every night, hoping to see beavers, but he also watched the geese. He noticed them picking spots for their nests and sometimes even arguing over the best places. It was fun to see all the action.
In May, the baby geese, called goslings, began to hatch. Mike thought they looked like little yellow tennis balls with legs, and he decided to take their pictures while waiting for the beavers. One day, he saw a mother goose with a huge group of 16 goslings. They all snuggled under her feathers to sleep. Mike was amazed and kept coming back to check on her. Each day, her group got bigger—first 25 goslings, then 30, and finally 47!
This mom wasn’t alone; her partner helped her take care of the babies. Mike learned that not all the goslings were hers. Some belonged to other goose families. This is called a gang brood, where goose parents take turns watching each other’s babies, like a big daycare. It happens a lot in cities, and this mom was great at it. Mike said, “She was so calm with all those goslings around. She’s a patient mom.”
As the goslings grew, they got too big to fit under their mom’s feathers. Soon, the big group started to split up into smaller families again. Mike watched them one day and saw about 60 goslings swimming with the adults. He could hardly tell the older goslings from the grown-up geese because they grew so fast. Just six weeks earlier, they were tiny fluff balls!
The original mom goose still had 25 of her own babies with her partner. Mike thinks they’ll all stay together when it’s time to fly south for the winter. He loves taking pictures of these geese, and it almost feels like they pose for him. You can see his photos on his Facebook page.
Mike’s time with the geese showed him how special nature is. He loved watching the goslings grow and seeing how the mom goose cared for so many babies. It was an adventure he’ll never forget, and his pictures let everyone share in the fun.
