Goose Fight

On the very first weekend that I had my 70-350mm lens for my Sony α6700, DW and I went to Mud Lake in search of birds.

Quelle suprise, considering that we had been going there and to Bruce Pit ever since I had made the decision to buy the Sony camera. I had already walked around Bruce Pit on the day that I picked up the lens, but it was raining and dark, and I didn't see as many birds as we had in the weeks leading up to that moment.

We entered Mud Lake from the south end, at the entrance to where the new bridge was built. It was a large, steel structure that replaced old wooden bridges in a small bay.

Almost immediately, we heard some agitated honking of Canada geese. It wasn't that surprising a sound, as the geese are always there and they tend to be somewhat territorial, especially during nesting season. From where we were standing, a tree and some bushes obscured our view, so we walked to the far end of the bridge to get a better look.

The geese were really going at it, flapping their wings to gain some height above the water and nipping at one another. We could see them grabbing each other by the breast and neck, and it seemed to be a battle to the death.

Two other geese were swimming around the fighting birds, honking in a manner that almost sounded like wailing. Were these the mates of the geese, trying to get them to stop fighting.

My camera can shoot up to 11 frames a second but I took short bursts. Even still, I shot almost 100 images over the several minutes that the birds fought. Here are some of them.

At one point, one of the geese broke free and tried to swim for shore but the other goose caught up with it and jumped on its back, holding the fleeing goose under water. I thought it was a goner but the lamenting geese intervened and the submerged goose was able to make it to shore.

With both of them on land, they continued to argue but the fight seemed to be over. Perhaps they were both worn out.

Have you ever seen something like this? Let me know in the Comments section.

Happy Friday!