Ducks on the Pond

Our back yard is still mostly snow. And water from the melt.




But our yearly harbinger of spring arrived on Friday - a pair of mallards. We have a small pond out front. ML took some pics I thought you might like.

This is the pair in the water



The female preening while keeping an eye on ML as she photographs.


After preening she flaps to realign her feathers. ML likes that you can see her feet under water.


The male walking up the bank to get out of the pond. Very bright orange feet.



The two relaxing on land.


Yes spring is officially here at the PhilNH5 homestead. Whew

I like the feet seen under the water too.

Cool! So spring should eventually arrive.

FWIW, the wife saw a pair of robins the other day. No earthworms for them yet and the the only snow free areas are under conifers at the edge of the field and where I plowed. We still have a lot of snow on the ground and the snow banks are still 3' high of corn snow.

I look forward to the spring peepers making their racket at night. Then I know that spring has truly arrived.

Okay, PhilNH5 and ShadowsDad, I'll be looking for photos of ducklings and robin babies in the not too distant future.

We lived on a lake with ducks. 50# bags of corn weekly. Great Dane would go outside in the morning - sign for food very shortly. Great fun seeing the mallards, a wood duck (2 the next year), well behaved little ducklings, etc.

I'll see what I can do.

Any badgers running around out there ?

I would imagine any badgers would be swimming and the ducks would be squawking. (but badgers aren't native to the northeast)

Phil, have you considered putting up wood duck nest boxes? If you like mallards you'll love wood ducks. IMO, so beautiful...

We have mallards visit the apartment swimming pool to the ire of the pool maintenance guy. I feed them scratch and am rewarded by successive generations thinking I'm just a wierd looking duck. Am I wrong? do I see a flash of orange koi in the one photo? I love the WIND IN THE WILLOWS metal whimsy too.

No badgers in these parts.
However NH hosts the much feared Fisher called a Fisher Cat by the locals. Known to slash through screen doors to eat house cats and infants. They have claws that can rip open a car door. No one is safe anywhere - EVER. Yes that was the hyperbole I heard when I moved here.
I had two labs and a golden retriever and was told the fisher cats would kill them easily.

Pre - internet so I took a trip to the library. They are up to 3 feet long but top the scales at 14 pounds. Half of the 3 foot length is a big bushy tail. They are members of the weasel family. Omnivores with a preference for porcupines but take small varmints and rodents.

They do have a rep as being ferocious. The local semi-pro baseball team is called Fisher Cats.

We stomp about the woods all year long. Have never seen any evidence of fishers being in these parts. No tracks, no porcupine carcasses, no scat.
I do believe the hyperbole is partially fueled by cat owners who let their cats roam free. When they don't come home the owners blamed fishers. Me - I believe cars, Coyotes and irate property owners are the real reason.

Kav,
No koi. It is a natural pond. Lots of frogs. Hence lots of predators such as snakes, broadwing hawks and occasionally a great blue heron. A brightly colored fish would be a meal much too quickly

Not sure about the Wind in the Willows reference though I read the book as a kid.
I have seen a statue of a frog playing a flute - maybe you thought the statue was Mister Toad.

It is a girl playing a flute. Our daughter is a flutist so it seemed a good fit.


The other is a junkyard giraffe sculpture. Made from a compressor tank, truck springs and other cast off parts.