I had a little bit of extra time last Saturday, so after rising and eating a light breakfast, I decided to grab my camera and head down to Canyon Lake for a game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Canyon Lake is still completely open, with no ice in sight and thus it is a real attraction for waterfowl. Canadian Geese are birds of opportunity. As long as they have access to open water and a sufficient food supply, they see no need to migrate further south. They seem to thrive on the crowds of geese that have gathered at the lake. I have no idea how many geese were there, but it was a lot. In fact, if the game was Duck, Duck, Goose, I think you’d run out of ducks a long time before you ran out of geese at the lake right now. The geese definitely had the bigger number.

I am not a birder. I enjoy looking at birds, but haven’t gotten into making all of the identifications. We do, however, own a couple of books that help with identifying birds and, of course the Internet is filled with resources for those who want to verify what they have seen.

It was as a casual observer that I walked along the shore of the lake and watched as the birds took off and landed and paddled around the water. My arrival at the lake wasn’t first thing in the morning, but it was early enough that there weren’t the numbers of people who would later show up to walk on the trails in the park. As I walked down to the lake, the birds would slowly paddle a bit farther from the shore to move away from me. When I would sit very still, they would paddle back so I could get a closer look.

There isn’t much variation in the geese. They are all pretty much the same type of bird. They are loud and they splash a lot when taking off and landing. They seem to be social birds, always going about in groups whether walking on shore, paddling on the water or flying. I managed to get a few pictures fo flying geese both with their beaks open and with their beaks closed. The birds like to honk to each other as they fly.

I was, however, fascinated by the ducks. Probably the most common ducks around here this time of the year are the Mallards. They raise their chicks on the various reservoirs in the hills and are a common sight. The bright green heads of the drakes are showy and they are fun to watch.

There were also several large groups of Golden Eye ducks on the lake. An amateur like me might misidentify an individual bird, but I’m pretty sure I also saw a lone merganser and what I think was a pair of redhead ducks. There was plenty to see as I sat by the lake.

I am so used to looking at birds from the perspective of a boat. A canoe or kayak allows me to sit at the level of the water. My wooden boats are very quiet on the water and if I use what we call the Indian stroke, I can move through the water without bothering the other creatures that are on the lake. However, I’m pretty sure that the lake was crowded enough that had I brought a canoe with me on Saturday, I would have created quite a disruption, with ducks and geese taking to flight and moving around the lake in large flocks. So watching from the shore seemed like the least invasive way to see what was going on. Canyon Lake is a very small lake, so it is easy to keep track of what is going on.

The perspective of being on shore, however, is a bit more dramatic than I expected. I’m not a very tall person, but when I stand, I’m a lot taller than a goose sitting on the water. I found myself trying to get as low as possible to get the pictures that i was after.

The morning was good for clearing my head and disconnecting from some of the worries that have otherwise occupied me lately. And it did get me to thinking about playing Duck, Duck, Goose. The game is a good one for a group of preschoolers and there are versions that can entertain older children briefly. The “picker” walks around a circle of children seated on the ground, tapping each one on the head and saying, “duck.” When another player is chosen, the picker says, “goose” and the “goose’ gets up and chases the picker. If the picker gets to the place where the “goose” was before being tagged, the “goose” becomes the picker and play resumes.

There is a version, best played in the summer and perhaps more suitable for older children called Drip, Drip, Drop. In this version, the picker has a cup of water. A small amount of water is dropped on each seated player until the picker chooses a chaser. Then the rest of the cup of water is poured on the chaser and the picker yells “Drop!” The chase ensues and the cup is refilled for another round. It doesn’t take long before everyone is wet and a general water fight ensues.

The geese and ducks, however, don’t mind being wet. Their feathers are well suited to being in and out of water all day long and they have sufficient stores of fat to keep themselves warm. Liquid water, furthermore, is above freezing, so even though it feels very cold to us, it is not too cold for the birds. The birds also don’t go in for circles much. Their game at this time of the year has mostly to do with feeding and surviving. They do, however, at times appear to be chasing one another.

There really isn’t much about watching birds on the lake that connects it with children playing games other than the name of the game and the way my brain works. But in the midst of a very busy day yesterday, it was a distraction to think of the ducks and geese and it captured my attention enough to become the topic of today’s journal entry.

Copyright (c) 2020 by Ted E. Huffman. I wrote this. If you would like to share it, please direct your friends to my web site. If you'd like permission to copy, please send me an email. Thanks!