It wasn’t what I was used to. Normally, if the mother mallard suspects that I might be in my island blind, she keeps her distance. She will feed her chicks around the perimeter and swim past freely but she would never land anywhere near the blind. But this season, I think mom was a repeat customer. They all look the same but when I checked previous year’s photos it looked like she had similar markings. And I believe she knew she’d be safer near us in case of predators. Indeed, we’d rushed out several times in past seasons to scare away minks and others while she squawked and stood her ground against them. And we’d already had several such interventions this year. So here they were, landing right next to me and actually snuggling in together for a short siesta less than 20 feet away. And as they were jockeying for position around mom, this little one came wondering over to have a closer look at the big eye of the lens that was peering down at it. Almost felt like we were going to be friends. I could get used to that.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
