Mallard chicks

A pair of Mallards showed up with ducklings on the pond.  There were only six ducklings today, and they looked older than the brood of eleven  that we saw on May 15.  We can't know if this is the same or a different brood, but it seems like the young here are appropriately more mature.  The bills are longer and their feathers seem smoother than the ducklings we saw before.   (right: closeup of one of the 6)

the old fence row

In gardening season,
I found buried several
pieces of the old barbed
wire that used to be the
fence row when this was
farmed land. 
The pieces stand by,
relieved of duty.