A family of geese appear to have adopted me. I can sit on the ground and they swarm all around me. Yesterday, one of the parents lunged violently, but she passed inches away and chased another goose away. It really was quite magical.
I've learned that the hissing sound is not always aggressive. It is simply "I'm here". My wife has been gently pecked when she didn't produce some bread quickly enough. When she stopped screaming, she admitted that the goose hadn't hurt her at all.
On Friday, there were 15 chicks. On Saturday, there were 17. Today, Sunday, there are 19. We also found another family today with 6 chicks. So we will see how that family grows - if at all!
This is the new family. I'm guessing that these chicks are only a day or two old.
Last night there was a brief thunderstorm. I had a flash of inspiration and tried out the camera's "Live Comp" mode. It worked a treat!
Fortunately, the storm was after dark, so there weren't any geese airborne at the time!
The coots have also been reproducing. They are rightly too embarrassed to allow their offspring be seen in public, so they are very difficult to photograph. The chicks are kept hidden in overhanging greeneryd they are chased back under cover if they dare show their faces!
Update 17/5/2022
We went back this evening, and the goslings ate rom my hand. They were hesitant at first, but when mummy lunged forward and took some, they took courage, and within a couple of minutes were pushing and shoving each other. This is just a screengrab from a bit of video that was almost in focus - so the quality is poor.
Here they are all looking happy to have made a new friend.