Posted by Alan Ginsberg:

About a month ago, I shared a wild little story from our local pond on Facebook. I thought a few bird lovers might enjoy it. Next thing I know—nearly 1,000 likes, media outlets knocking, and a flood (pun intended) of people asking, “What happened to the goose baby!?”

So here’s the original tale, now with bonus drama and a heartwarming update. Buckle up—this is one feathered soap opera you didn’t know you needed.

When Cranes Go Nest-Hopping

Every spring, a loyal pair of Sandhill Cranes returns to our pond like clockwork. It’s our own little Nat Geo special—eggs, hatching, fuzzy-legged colts teetering around like drunk toddlers. Classic. Beautiful. Predictable.

This year? Not so much.

A torrential downpour turned their idyllic nesting spot into an accidental water feature. Their carefully built nest? Submerged. Chick? Newly hatched. FEMA? Nowhere in sight.

So, like any good parents in crisis, they pivoted.

They found an unoccupied Canada Goose nest (read: timeshare) and moved in with their baby crane in tow. Mom settled in. All was calm.

Cue the plot twist.

Turns out, that goose nest wasn’t completely empty. Nestled inside was one last goose egg, just hanging out like it missed the moving truck.

A few days later—surprise!—a gosling popped out… and promptly bonded with the first large, warm object in sight: Mama Crane.

And just like that, we had ourselves a brand-new family unit: two crane parents, one lanky brown crane chick, and one very confused, very fluffy yellow gosling who thought he, too, was a crane.

The Geese Want a Word

Things got awkward fast.

From the cattails emerged the original goose parents—late to the party and not thrilled about the unauthorized adoption. For over an hour, they circled the family like feathered spies, throwing some serious side-eye.

The gosling, meanwhile, snuggled up to its new mom like, “I don’t know them.”

The male crane wasn't having it. With the protective energy of a dad whose kid just got insulted on the soccer field, he squared up and charged the geese like, “Back off. He’s ours now.”