Many Canada geese raised their little ones within a short radius of an extended-stay hotel in Jacksonville, Florida. The photos on these pages were taken in 2014 and 2015. The first two pages show the fuzzy little ones growing into their mature colors. The subsequent pages show wing growth of the goslings.

Page 1 of 4
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It all starts with an egg.
[Close-up view of a lone brownish-white egg sitting among down feathers in a nest.]

The eggs sit in shallow nests which are made with downy feathers, pine straw, and leaves. (This is a different nest from the prior photo.) [This nest has a lot more larger feathers as well as several eggs in the build-up nest of pine straw and leaves.]

Momma appears to be singing to her eggs although I never heard any noises. I saw more than one mother goose doing this. (Goose nests are made close to water.) [A front view of a goose sitting on the ground where the nest was built. She has her bill open slightly. Behind her is a pond.]

Periodically the mother rotates the positions of the eggs.
[A goose stands over an egg between her legs which which she is moving with her bill. We view her back side in this image.]

Seemingly overnight the eggs hatch or at least all the ones which will hatch do. The egg under this mother never hatched and she left the next morning with her two little ones (seen to the right of her).
[A goose stands over an egg between her legs. The nest is in the middle of a hillside and the mother goose looks toward the camera. Two fuzzy goslings sit in the grass on her left side.]

Another set of day-old goslings
[Close-up view of the goslings standing at their parent's feet. The grass is just as high as the little ones.]

One-day-old gosling goes for a swim.
[Very close-up view of one gosling on the water. The new feathers are still furry-looking and invite one to want to touch.]

The goslings in the prior two photos are now 13 days old in this image.
[Four goslings walking in a row on pavement near the feet of a parent. Their tiny wings are visible on their backs and their heads and necks are already losing their fuzziness.]

I don't know if this helped the growing process, but I saw goslings (and ducklings) often stretching like this.
[Gosling on its belly on the grass stretching one foot way back. It's bigger than the prior photo and losing its fuzziness.]

The gold-brown down is morphing to the adult color. Back is browner and a patch on its face is lightening and will eventually become white. (Just like a little kid this gosling is oblivious to the fact it has food on its head.)
[Gosling sits in the grass. It's now taller than the grass around it. Its back is mostly brown fuzz thile its head is yellow with a white yellow patch from its beak to the back of its head.]

The bodies are definitely increasing in size.
[Gosling standing on its stout legs staring through a metal-link fence into the camera. This one's head is still mostly light yellow.]

Continue to watch the goslings mature. (page 2 of 4)

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All photos © S. M. Garver