Yes, I know spring has been around for a while, but it isn't really spring in my yard until certain things happen. The wood thrush and Baltimore oriole need to come back and the white-throated sparrow must go elsewhere to nest. The osprey must do his mating call in the air above the house. And the mallard couple must come back to graze under the feeder. All those things except the latter had come about, and finally the mallard couple quacked the announcement of their return and their need for food, please, and preferably NOW. It must be the same couple from last year, because when I asked if they were hungry and headed to the shed to retrieve food for them, they only backed off far enough to give me space to put the food. None of this hasty retreat business for them this year!
They seem to have a pattern so far. They show up between 8 and 9 a.m. for breakfast and come back for a late afternoon snack around 5 or 6 p.m. After they have eaten their fill, sometimes they take a "rest break"
Any leftovers get taken over by the latest squirrel crop. I think this one is cute even if he is a bushy-tailed rat! He's tiny enough to be a recently "fledged" baby.
Welcome back, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard!
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