Changes

There seems to be a lot of changes taking place at the Fish Pond these days.

The adult Kingfishers have not been around at all in the last week and a half but there does appear to be at least one young one hanging around practicing its fishing. It bounces around the edge of the pond exploring different perches and occassionally returning to the area where I believe the older birds had nested.

The three baby ducks that had been here last week appear to have been reduced to one. I don't know if this means that the hen tried to lead them to larger water and one got left behind or if the other two fell victim to one of the hunters that frequent the pond. It could be that the other two have simply not left the safety of their hiding place during my visits.

The Muskrat's that live under the spot where I normally sit have apparently decided that I'm not a great threat. They spent almost an hour the other day venturing out to gather grass and leaves to pack into their den. They seemed to be comfortable enough to swim within three feet of me on several occasions.

I wish I could say that my being allowed to observe them from such a close and personal distance was because I was so stealthy that they didn't realize I was there. That thought quickly disappeared though when the largest one propped himself up onto the tree branch over the den entrance, about six feet from my spot, and looked at me before heading out for one of his trips.

Their sudden bravery may be an indication that life on the pond is shifting from the work of raising young to the work of preparing for the long winter that will inevitably come.

Some things will never change though and I don't know whether to feel sorry for the Seagulls or just roll my eyes because they will never learn.

As has happened on several previous occasions one of the area seagulls successfully managed to grab a fish from the shallow area near the pond's inlet stream. This one still had some life in it though and was not ready to give up easily.

After dragging it up onto the bank then chasing back down to the water a couple of times he "once again" discovered that his eyes were bigger than his stomach. This meant that "once again" all of his hard work would only go to provide an easy meal for someone else. In this case a lucky bald eagle.


While I'm still trying to figure out whether there is more than one Great Blue Heron frequenting the pond one of them showed up for its afternoon meal as well. While they normally hunt along the shoreline this one must have spotted its prey from a high perch or while in flight.


It came in and landed in water that came almost up to its stomach. It then went directly out into even deeper water to grab its lunch. It wandered around the popular shallows, spent a little time cleaning its beak and resting before taking flight.

Regardless of the reason for the changes these new observations are some great examples of what you can discover if you are still, quiet and invest a little time in enjoying the world around you.

Get outside and have a great one.

Kevin