Many human children grow up hearing the tales of Mother Goose. On Lake Morton, the young chicks grow up with Father Goose. This unique goose takes it upon himself to play nanny with young Muscovy duck families. I spent a sweet couple of hours with this little family on Saturday morning at Lake Morton.

A friend who lives on the lake hypothesizes that this goose lost his mate several years ago. Since then, the goose has taken Muscovy ducks under his wing. It’s so sweet to watch the three chicks following Mom around the lake, with Father Goose swimming alongside them. When they finished their swimming lesson, Father Goose stood watch over the little chicks as they slept. He honked his head off anytime that another bird came near. Mallards, ibises, and limpkins were chased off by the little ducklings’ protector.

The little chicks are so cute! There are two yellow and black chicks and one brown chick. They are a couple of weeks old, but they haven’t lost the cute factor. I will post more pictures in the next couple of days. :)