Sightings

I just returned from a roll around the backyard. I know what you’re thinking. No, I did not get stuck and yes, I stayed on the sidewalk.

The clump of wild irises that grows in the ditch alongside the property hasn’t advanced much beyond sticking their first green shoots up through the muck with the faint hope of catching some rays from the sun.

Winter is still in full force out there today. The temperature is 5° and the wind is from the north. Brrrr! I wore my winter parka, hat and mitts. I would have been chilly without them. Because I don’t generate any internal heat when I’m out there, I must dress a little more warmly.

Today’s excitement comes from a lone, male Mallard duck hanging out on the pond. He wisely keeps the length of the small pond between us as I follow the sidewalk around it. He waits until I’m all the way over near the parking lot before he flies away. He’s very handsome. I wonder if he’s one of the pair I saw this time last year, when it was a lot warmer? They were going for a stroll down the sidewalk away from the pond. At that point I think the missus put the kibosh on building a nest there because I never saw them again. Will he bring her back this year?