Lazy, hazy spring days at the Fish Pond. That’s certainly what it seemed like today as there was not much happening. Kingfishers passing back and forth, a few ducks and a seagull that stopped in for a quick bite were about all that I saw.

One Mallard Drake showed up shortly after my arrival. He was heading straight at me as he skidded to a stop on the water’s surface. As soon as he slowed to the point that his feet could paddle successfully he turned sharply to his right and swam away from his splashdown point.

He nervously swam up and down the length of the pond paralleling the bank that was off to my right looking for any sign of other ducks but he stayed well away from it. Occasionally he would perk his head up as if he thought he had seen something in the over hanging trees. He would swim quickly towards whatever it was only to return to his regular route when it turned out to be nothing.

Quacking anxiously he maintained his back and forth pattern for more than twenty minutes. He didn’t seem to relax until a pair of wood ducks appeared from out of the brush. As soon as they showed up he climbed up onto a fallen tree settled in for a short rest.

One of the reasons for the lack of activity today was probably the layer of white fluff that had fallen from the Cottonwood trees. Until the wind picked up and pushed it all to one side it blanketed almost the entire surface of the pond.

It certainly drove the Wood Ducks crazy when they tried to feed in it and made at least one Grackle very unhappy. He must have thought it was snow and seemed very surprised when he went right through it and got a little wet. If I didn’t know better I’d say he was rather embarrassed about the whole thing.

That was about the all that happened. Except for the large number of mosquitoes that kept my hands pretty busy it was fairly uneventful.

I did make one new discovery. The picture below is what I found. I’m curious to know if anyone can guess what it is, or more precisely, whose it is, hmmm…


With the great weather there is no longer any excuse not to get outside and go exploring! So get going!

Until next time have a great one.

Kevin