The yellow green color of budding leaves is beginning to add a taste of the warmer seasons to the trees around the Fish Pond.

Everywhere you look life is popping up. Under a fallen tree plants that look like they could have been the inspiration for a building on some far away planet in a Star Wars adventure reach up into the warm air while trilliums, dandelions and other wildflowers seem to be starting to rejoice in winters passing.

While most of the animals that live in and around the Fish Pond have pretty much wrapped up their mate selections their is still one Mallard drake at the pond that is very nervous about who gets to close to the hen he is with.

They were the only two on the water for most of the morning. The drake followed the hen back and forth along the shoreline feeding resting until about 10 a.m..

It was about then that I saw the shadow of a single duck appear over the water to my left and watched it move straight along the shore until it was directly out from my photo blind. It suddenly made a tight 180-degree turn and the lone drake dropped onto the water about ten feet in front of my spot. I froze and hoped he hadn’t noticed me.

Fortunately he didn’t see me but the male of the pair that was resting on the far end of the pond certainly saw him and there was no politeness in his tone as he and the hen made a beeline across the water. The paired male increased his speed, water building in front of him, as he got closer to the newcomer. When he got close enough he lunged at the new drake sending him flying to the far side of the pond.

Usually this display and distance would have been enough to settle down most duck territory claims but not today. This guy didn’t seem to want any competition anywhere on the pond. With hen in tow he swam at full speed straight back across the pond in pursuit of his rival. For more than an hour he repeatedly chased the new guy far up onto the bank.

When the loner would see an opportunity to make it back to the water he would make a waddling dash down the hill and try to avoid his tormentor by swimming away from him through the fallen trees that line the far shore but to no avail. The original male would quickly resume the chase biting at and herding the poor visitor away form the hen who for the most part seemed disinterested in the whole affair.

When I left at about noon the hen was resting on a log while the two of them continued their game.

It was great to get out to shoot for this today. The changes that have taken place since my last visit serve as a great reminder of how easy it is to get caught up in the daily grind and miss the wonderful things that happen all around us.

I spent only a few hours sitting still or slowly walking through the woods today but I managed to see a wealth of small natural wonders. A young Bald Eagle soaring over the trees as it was hunting, the ripples that shimmered across the pond as gusts of wind moved along the waters surface and the wonderful colors of the spring flowers that seem to add a little sunshine to even the cloudiest day.

It doesn’t take long to become a fan of the great outdoors and the couple of hours it takes once or twice a week to get out and explore can do wonders for the way you feel about life in general.

So as always, get outside and discover the world you live in!

Have a great one.

Kevin