Ducks and Geese

Though the clock said 7:30, my body was saying 6:30 this morning when I headed to the Riverwalk. The birds hadn't reset the clocks, so they were still living in a Standard Time world.

The two mallards were swimming in the temporary pond near the parking lot, and today they had company - two Canada geese. The trail comes near the "pond," so Sadie and I took a circular route into the woods to avoid frightening the geese (the ducks are used to us, by now). We were successful on our way out, but when we came back, the geese were startled by the four legged "beast" and flew up over our heads. This sent the adrenaline rushing and Sadie, true to her English setter, bird dog breeding, jumped up on her hind legs with the excitement of a child seeing Santa at the mall.

There weren't many people walking the trail this morning (did they not reset their clocks?), but the weather was perfect (50 degrees). As the sun rose, it turned the tops of the tree golden, awakening small birds that had roosted there for the night. We saw a few sparrows, blue birds, and crows; at the car, we saw a number of slate-colored juncos.

The weather was so nice that Sadie and I walked another 3 miles on the Riverwalk this afternoon. We walked near a marsh area where there were mallards swimming about. I snapped away and took a number of pictures of these wonderful ducks. A question that came to me was "How many different types of photos can one take of mallards?" The answer is "an infinite number of types" since they are so photogenic and are beautiful as they sit upon the water, whether a marsh, the river, or a temporary pond created by heavy rains.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.