Last spring’s goslings have grown strong. They fly with ease and scour the surrounding area for tasty patches of grass or vegetation with their parents. As evening approaches, families of Canada geese fly in to roost with their brethren at the millpond. Well meaning humans toss them treats even though the city asks them not do it. Humans seem to have a need to connect with wildlife. At this time of year as the goose population peaks and they are preparing for their late fall migration, the geese are happy to oblige them.
Some of the geese become so acclimated to human handouts that, if you stop near them, they come up to you with that hang-dog, hungry look they’ve discovered triggers human sentiments. This one (below) tried that with me. It didn’t work. But I wished I had some bread in my pockets. Hey, I’m human.
On walks with my dad when I was a kid, I’d ask him, “What kind of bird is that?” and, if he didn’t know what it was, he’d tell me it was a Mugwump. He told me that it’s a bird that sits on a fence with its mug on one side and its wump on the other. At the time, I didn’t know the political history of 
