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(no where near a lake, river, pond...)
One day last week I pulled into the driveway and a barely perceptible movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I was drawn to a corner of my "garden" (I use the term "garden" loosely, as several members of my family are true gardeners and would scoff at what we call a "garden"), and upon closer inspection I discovered a mama Mallard duck sitting patiently on a down lined nest. It begs the question WHY a garden? The lake is behind the houses on the other side of our street; does that really count as lakeside property from a duck's point of view? She is well camouflaged hidden behind an errant tree sprouting where it shouldn't, and the early stalks of my peony bush. i hope she likes ants! Surely the ducklings will have hatched by the time the bush blooms. I will dedicate this page to Mama Duck and post relevant pix as the weeks unfold.
1. As I got out of my car, I caught a berely perceptible movement in the area indicated by the black arrow. See the wall of Tyndall limestone? In photos 2 & 3 I am leaning over it to take her picture from a safe and unintrusive distance. I PROMISE!
2. You can barely make out her silhouette in this shot, but I did circle her body. I am perched on the wall above.
3. A closer look - but don't panic, I did not approach her, it is the miracle of the zoom lens. I'm leaning over the half wall that is the backdrop to her nest.
Fortunately the incubation period is only 26 - 30 days so the hatching is in the not too distance future. Stay tuned!
