Talk about bird-brained....
The nesting instinct, they say, is an utter imperative; the propogation of the species, and reproduction, is too great an urge to be ignored.
But sometimes, the place chosen is NOT the best.
This CANADA GOOSE (Branta canadensis) chose the edge of the car park in the St Louis Hindu temple to build her nest; and here she is, obviously incubating at least one egg:
I wonder if geese always nest on the ground in this way? The entry
gives this interesting answer:
“COVER REQUIREMENTS : Because Canada geese nest in a wide variety of sites, their cover requirements are not very specialized or specific. Nesting sites that offer good visibility of the surrounding area, protection from predators, and are fairly close to the water (within 1 to 94 meters) are usually adequate enough to support a viable population of geese. It is possible that fidelity to nesting sites is so strong that the type of cover chosen, whether shrub or grassland, is almost irrelevent (sic) in parts of Alaska. Instead, nesting success may depend heavily on the absence of predators.”
Some children came up behind me as I took the snap, and I think the tongue coming out was the equivalent of a goose “hissing”, defending nest and young. But she made no other move, passive or aggressive, towards the children, whom I turned back, anyway.
Perhaps, we thought, this was a good place because only devotees come here…but then,
All I can do is…hope that doesn’t happen!
Well, I know nest photography is a “no-no”, but I am hoping that this will warn all St Louis temple-goers to avoid this bird and her nest…and I really don’t think I am putting this bird in any more danger than she has brought upon herself by her (bird-brained) choice of site!