Today when I went to the park where the nesting goose was, I noticed something unusual. There wasn't any noise. There weren't any birds singing. Usually I hear frogs causing a racket in the pond, but I didn't hear a peep out of them. I didn't even see any squirrels sneaking around.When I got to the back of the park I could see that the goose was still there on her nest. I never can quite see her until I get up close. This was the first time I saw her at all from a distance. I thought she must be sitting patiently watching the world around her, but no.
When I got there she was sound asleep. I looked out on the pond and saw a duck on a log. The duck was also asleep. I guess I must have gotten there right at nap time. All of the animals must be asleep. Wow, it was really quiet out here. The goose did wake up briefly and look at me, but she quickly tucked her bill back into her feathers and went back to sleep.
I guess you never know what you'll find when you're watching nature. I always expected to see animals running around and getting into things. I guess they have to sleep some time. Really, there weren't even any butterflies today. It was kind of strange. The whole place seemed to be sleeping.It must have been a sleepy day today. I'm sleepy now as I write this just thinking about what happened. Have you ever been out during animal nap time? Has this ever happened to you? Maybe it was just the time of day I decided to go hiking. I'll bet you never thought you'd be reading a nature story about nap time. I don't know, but I think I'm going to go take a nap.
I get this all the time. Birds and critters seem to fall asleep at about noon or so and then start getting active again around 2. Cute picture of her sleeping. They are so cute when they nestle their head into their wing.
ReplyDeleteHi! I've always wondered about horses. They don't ever seem to nap; must be exhausting to be a horse.
ReplyDeleteI've seen lots of brightly coloured mallards napping in the sun on the river bank but if anyone walks too close they soon open their eyes to check.
ReplyDeleteThe animals in the zoo always seems to take a nap at anytime. Life must be bore to them.
ReplyDeleteBut not so often I see animals in te wild fall in asleep.
I likto have a nap too. Mallard ducks are my favorite ducks to photograph because of their rich colours
ReplyDeleteNice photos Ratty. I can't wait to see the babies. And speaking of nature naps. Sometimes early in the afternoon it will be real quiet around here too. I always wonder where they all went but maybe they do take naps.. I know my own birds do.
ReplyDeleteRatty I had the opposite experience today when I visited a National Park-absolutely full of butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing how many chicks the goose has.
A nap sounds really good!
ReplyDeleteThose photos are just marvelous, and now I'll pay attention to nap time in nature..
ReplyDeleteKallen - When I went to check on her today, her mate was sleeping while swimming in the lake. I didn't know they could do that.
ReplyDelete-
Lynn - Maybe horses just wake up whenever anyone comes near. They sleep standing up, so maybe they wake up easily.
-
Lizzie - That's what these birds were doing. The goose lifted her head, and the mallard was peeking at me.
-
Rainfield - Maybe these animals are bored too. The goose on her nest must get tired sitting there most of the day.
-
Roentarre - Mallards are my favorite too, even though I haven't had a chance to see any other kind of duck yet.
-
Ginnymo - I think they probably have to take naps, especially fast moving animals like squirrels. I saw a black squirrel sleeping high up in a tree today.
-
Mike - My butterflies seem to have disappeared for some reason. According to the number of eggs, she should have seven chicks.
-
Sharkbytes - A nap sounded good to me yesterday while I was writing this post and commenting on a few others, but I was being too stubborn to do it.
-
Icy BC - If you can figure out when nap time is, you'll be able to time a nature walk just right.
Motherhood and caring for the eggs day and night is probably making her exhausted. Not to mention the hormonal changes. ha
ReplyDeleteNap is good, I love nap......zzzz...
ReplyDeleteHow about fish? How actually do they sleep? I love stirring my pond when I came home late to see whether they are sleeping or something...
ReplyDeleteThe Retired One - Good point! Being a man, that's something I don't always consider. Laying seven eggs must have also been kind of rough.
ReplyDelete-
Vanilla - Me too. I was falling asleep while trying to write the post. :)
-
Kruel - That's something to think about. I don't really know if fish sleep. Stirring the pond is funny. The thought of it brings out the mean little kid in me.
I have to admit, I skipped your snake post and I was glad to get down to this much more peaceful one. I loved seeing the sleepy goose resting so peacefully while you were taking pictures.
ReplyDeleteMountain Woman - The snake post wasn't something some people would want to read. I won't do ones like that very often. The goose barely notices me anymore when I take her picture. She knows she's mostly safe, and she has eggs on her mind instead of me.
ReplyDelete