RM> But I've gotten used to seeing them here. They have Goosey
RM> Daycare where, once the goslings are swimming around well,
RM> you'll see one Mother Goose with 15 or 20 of them
RM> following her so you know that they don't all belong to
RM> that one female. They say 2 to 8 eggs for one nest but I'd
RM> say that 3 or 4 would be most common.

AA>Never knew about their Goosey Daycare system.  I'll have to
  >watch for that.  I usually have a couple of pairs of geese on
  >my little lake, but I don't think I've ever seen more than 8 or
  >10 little ones following a parent.   I have seen fewer and
  >fewer ones with the same pair over time though. I've imagined
  >that maybe the snapping turtles grab them from below.

I'm sure the bigger Turtles are a possibility. Here, being part
of the huge Georgian Bay and surrounding lakes area, we have a
lot of very big fish and a Musky will take baby ducks and geese,
probably more effectively than a turtle could manage it.
I've seen fishing lures that are made to look like baby ducks,
two little spinners on the bottom to look like swimming feet.

AA>When the peepers emerge, I know that
  >blackflies and mosquitoes emerge a week to a few days later.

AA>This year seems different though. The first night that the
  >Peepers started here was on Apr 23.  But sofar, no blackflies
  >nearly 2 wks later.

Lucky you.. I've been ducking black flies here for probably a week.
I also see the new nests forming for Tent Caterpillars which I'll
have to take care of to keep them from totally stripping some of
the smaller bushes, which can sometimes kill them.
(The bushes, not the caterpillars..)    B)

---
 * SLMR Rob  * Of course I'm crazy. But that doesn't mean I'm WRONG!
 * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)