Canada Goose

These pictures were taken in our back yard on May 1st, 2008. In our back yard we have three ponds and the largest one has an Island with a Ticki hut (Palapa) on it. This pair decided to nest on the roof of the Ticki hut. The female kept flying up and examining it but the eggs would have just rolled off because there's too much of a slant, so I put a board up on the back side so the eggs wouldn't roll off. Sure enough, she started laying eggs there and right now she's up there incubating them while the male stands guard below. They can be extremely aggressive during nesting. One morning another pair of Canada Geese flew in and the battle was on. The male of this pair got hold of the other ones head or neck (I couldn't tell which) and probably would have killed the other one if I hadn't gone out. When the male finally let go, those two intruders weren't long getting out of here and they haven't been back.