They aren’t even a day old and they’ve already had to jump into the void.
At a wildlife refuge in Washington, newly hatched Canada goslings peered over the edge of their nest, 7.6 meters above the ground. Their parents were waiting for them below, and there is no other way down: when they hatch, they have to follow them almost immediately. So one by one, they leaped, with their little wings still useless and their legs stretched out into nothingness.
What looks like a fatal fall is actually nature’s perfect design. Their bodies weigh almost nothing, and their soft, cotton-like plumage cushions every impact. Jake Bonello’s photos captured them right in midair, caught between fear and instinct. They’ll spend the entire summer glued to their parents, learning to be geese, until that first leap finally becomes flight.