During a recent walk about, testing a new-to-me camera with a roll of film, of which I wrote about in my previous post, I came across this scene. It was a mother goose with three of her goslings peacefully basking in the early summer sunlight on a peaceful lake.
They are Egyptian geese, originally native to West and Central Africa, but beloved by the ancients and depicted in their artworks. They were even considered to be sacred birds.
It's not hard to see why these birds were held in such high regard. They are graceful, beautiful and very peaceful. Of all the young birds I observed in the lake, the Alopochen Aegyptiaca goslings were by far the most independent of their parents. At the sight of danger, like an incoming dog, the goose would signal audibly to her young and they'd simply hop into the lake and paddle beyond the reach of the dog.
The Swans, for instance, were not as efficient and a lot more confrontational. They would stand their ground, ready for a fight with the dog. I'm not sure which tactic is more beneficial for the long-term survival of the birds.
Egyptian geese are amongst the birds that are now residing far away from their original habitat, far from home. The climate is different, everything is different. I wonder what evolutionary adaptation has occurred since they got here.
A lot of their population in England are from escapes, which means some of them were probably born in Africa. Escaped ornamental birds and so on. It means that even though they do migrate north within Africa, and sometimes cross the Mediterranean into Italy, the ones here in England were brought here on purpose by human beings.
I did a little research on them and found something rather alarming:
In the United Kingdom in 2009, it was officially declared a non-native species that could be shot if it was causing problems without special permission.
Birds are usually quite protected here in the UK. Ducks and swans are particularly highly protected and cannot be killed without permission. The Egyptian goose, along with the Parakeet (another African/tropical bird that came here in a similar fashion), however, have been deemed a threat to the native species. This is why they can now be killed at the land owner's discretion.
I can't help feeling a little sad about that. I'm probably humanising them a little, but there's just something unhappy about these beautiful birds having a lesser status due to no fault of their own.
I can only hope that most of these birds get shot with cameras, and not guns.
Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé
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