Egyptian goslings in Peckham Rye park!

[Sue]

Four little goslings by the pond,  with their mum and dad keeping a close watch on them yesterday!

It seems very early? Apparently they were born last week, and there were five then 😭

Let's hope the rest of them escape what I presume was the heron.

Sorry just realised this should be on the nature watch thread, maybe admin could move it? Apologies.

Edited Saturday at 11:53 by Sue
On wrong thread 😞

[CPR Dave]

Could have been one of the many rats that live there.

Or one of the many dogs that people let run around off their leash in that dog free zone.

[Sue]

23 hours ago, CPR Dave said:

Could have been one of the many rats that live there.

Or one of the many dogs that people let run around off their leash in that dog free zone.

Do rats eat ducklings/goslings?

I'd have thought anything on four legs approaching a gosling would have been seen off by the parents, whereas the heron swooping down can just fly off with it 😥

Edited Sunday at 13:10 by Sue

[d walker]

43 minutes ago, CPR Dave said:

Could have been one of the many rats that live there.

Or one of the many dogs that people let run around off their leash in that dog free zone.

It's a "dogs on lead" zone, not a dog free zone. Although I agree people should not let their dogs chase wildlife,  anywhere,  not just there.

[alice]

There were 3 about an hour ago.   I had thought the area around the lake over the low fence was a no dog area.

[Penguin68]

Dogs can't read and some owners don't bother to, I'm afraid. Too many seem to think that rules don't apply to them. Or their charges. 

[Sue]

4 hours ago, alice said:

There were 3 about an hour ago.   I had thought the area around the lake over the low fence was a no dog area.

If you mean the area immediately adjacent to the water, I have never seen either a dog or a human in there.

Surely it would be extremely difficult for someone - or their dog - to get over the fence (I thought they were iron railings. Are we talking about different parts of the pond/lake?)

[alice]

Just to the right of where the goslings were there’s a tree on the lake side of the fence where I like to watch the mother and baby rats. It was there today I saw a  dog. I was surprised by the nimble way this large dog jumped back over the fence. 

Edited Saturday at 21:03 by alice
Sense

[Sue]

Would the parent geese not attack a dog (whatever size) who came anywhere near the goslings?

They were keeping very close to them on Friday, and when one of the goslings wandered just a little way off from the others, one of the parents followed it.

This was on land, very close to the railings,  not on the water.

Edited Sunday at 13:14 by Sue

[alice]

I’m sure that’s true. She is very protective. When I first saw her I couldn’t see the goslings and then they appeared from underneath her.  Maybe there was a fourth, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near the mother so that makes me think it had already been lost.

[Sue]

45 minutes ago, alice said:

I’m sure that’s true. She is very protective. When I first saw her I couldn’t see the goslings and then they appeared from underneath her.  Maybe there was a fourth, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near the mother so that makes me think it had already been lost.

Let's hope no more of them disappear 😥

I don't know whether geese have a second brood later on? It seems very early in the year for goslings, but I haven't yet googled to find out more. 

[fishboy]

One of the main reasons these goslings don't survive is because once they leave their nest on the island, they are unable to return to it's safety because of the height of the artificial bank - it's basically a brick wall, with no natural slope. 

So they & their parents are left to try to fend off predators either in the water or on the outer bank - literally sitting ducks. I think in the last 10 years I've only seen a handful of goslings survive to maturity, and that's with two broods per year, often six, eight, ten goslings per brood. 

It's very sad, and just needs the council / parks to remove some bricks to create a more natural sloped bank so they can access the safety of the island. I've asked many times, and hoped some of the Gala "biodiversity" funds could be used, but to no avail. 

There are signs all around the lake stating dogs should be on a lead, but many owners seem to miss them, and don't appear to be concerned that the wildfowl are visibly & audibly disturbed by their presence, or aware how much damage their dogs can do. A few years back a loose dog attacked a male Egyptian goose and injured it so badly that it had to be taken to a sanctuary. Egyptian geese mate for life, so the female has remained alone ever since.

[Sue]

38 minutes ago, fishboy said:

One of the main reasons these goslings don't survive is because once they leave their nest on the island, they are unable to return to it's safety because of the height of the artificial bank - it's basically a brick wall, with no natural slope. 

So they & their parents are left to try to fend off predators either in the water or on the outer bank - literally sitting ducks. I think in the last 10 years I've only seen a handful of goslings survive to maturity, and that's with two broods per year, often six, eight, ten goslings per brood. 

It's very sad, and just needs the council / parks to remove some bricks to create a more natural sloped bank so they can access the safety of the island. I've asked many times, and hoped some of the Gala "biodiversity" funds could be used, but to no avail. 

There are signs all around the lake stating dogs should be on a lead, but many owners seem to miss them, and don't appear to be concerned that the wildfowl are visibly & audibly disturbed by their presence, or aware how much damage their dogs can do. A few years back a loose dog attacked a male Egyptian goose and injured it so badly that it had to be taken to a sanctuary. Egyptian geese mate for life, so the female has remained alone ever since.

Couldn't the sanctuary have taken the female as well?

That's very sad 😭 

[fishboy]

Apparently they are considered an "invasive species" so shouldn't be transported anywhere - the volunteer who took the injured parent away was technically breaking the law. 

The thread is here, just shows how nothing has changed with regard to loose dogs around the lake -

 

[Sue]

So was  the injured goose returned to its partner when it had healed?

[elloriac]

The injured goose could not be returned due to be considered an invasive species. He had to stay with the wildlife rescue. Whether it's the same female breeding with another male now, or a different pair, who knows.

I have photos from a very similar time last year (see attached from 1 Feb 2024) and the year before, as the Egyptian geese always surprise me with their earliness, but all (most?) of the goslings made it to adulthood last year, so it's a strategy that works for them.

[Dulwichway]

Fox, Herons, Crows, Gulls, Pike, Cats, Jays, Magpies, Jackdaws, etc. The list goes on! predators will always take a young waterfowl chick for breakfast, tea, lunch, if the opportunity arises. It's called "nature". 

[fishboy]

A "natural" bank on the lake island, earlier...

No idea why the wildfowl chicks can't just hop up there to escape the foxes, herons, crows, cats etc...

[malumbu]

Interesting the affection for an alien species.  I would happily support culling and in some cases extermination of many - rats, feral pigeons, Canada Geese, ring necked parakeets, grey squirrels.

Not extending this to rabbits (introduced by the Romans for food I recall, starlings, and no doubt numerous other species that are non-indigenous.

May sound a little arbitrary, but the above spread disease, damage wildlife including out competing native species.

Green sqwaky things once they adopt your garden are a pain in the neck.

No strong views on Egyptian Geese 

Edited Wednesday at 19:25 by malumbu
Spelling mistake, should have worn my Poundland glasses 🤓

[Sue]

On 05/02/2025 at 19:24, malumbu said:

Interesting the affection for an alien species.  I would happily support culling and in some cases extermination of many - rats, feral pigeons, Canada Geese, ring necked parakeets, grey squirrels.

Not extending this to rabbits (introduced by the Romans for food I recall, starlings, and no doubt numerous other species that are non-indigenous.

May sound a little arbitrary, but the above spread disease, damage wildlife including out competing native species.

Green sqwaky things once they adopt your garden are a pain in the neck.

No strong views on Egyptian Geese 

Sqwaky?

If you had worn your Poundland glasses you might also have seen the red wriggly line under sqwaky.

And if you want to start talking about culling things, please start another thread!

Surely rats aren't an "alien species" are they? Anyway, they are very intelligent and don't deserve to be culled.

And Egyptian geese are very pretty, so they don't deserve to be culled either.

Glad you are saving starlings and rabbits too.

How do you feel about mice? 🐭

🤣

Edited 10 hours ago by Sue

[Jenijenjen]

7 hours ago, Sue said:

Surely rats aren't an "alien species" are they? Anyway, they are very intelligent and don't deserve to be culled.

And Egyptian geese are very pretty, so they don't deserve to be culled either.

So ... this begs the question, is it OK to cull those who are neither intelligent or pretty?

[Sue]

28 minutes ago, Jenijenjen said:

So ... this begs the question, is it OK to cull those who are neither intelligent or pretty?

I was joking, sorry, that probably wasn't obvious.

I'm not sure I agree with culling aka killing loads of  anything (except things carrying diseases like malaria etc), but I don't know enough about it to be able to say.