tracks, cracks, marks, mysteries

Snow overnight.  A thin sheet of ice on the pond beneath the slush.  Wonderous tracks and marks this morning.  Maybe the muskrats, or the mallards, or other birds, or the mice or voles?  Maybe all of them, cavorting at dawn!  Tracks in a row, wandering.  Slide marks in the slush like a runway with bunched snow at the end.  Cracks expanding in the ice, icy fingers spreading both black and white!

 

temperamental autumn

Autumn and Spring are the transition seasons, temperamental and transformative.

In past years, I’ve watched birds arrive for nesting on their sacrosanct schedule, whether driven by daylight hours or other clues. Some years, they arrive in Spring when weather is fine, start building nests, and then have to endure several days of cold rain or snow. 

So it is with Autumn.  In October this year, we endured a week of early winter with extreme cold air and several inches of snow.  

But then we had this delightful first week in November!  Sunny and warm until today.

dabbling ducks

Ducks are generally described by birdwatchers as 'dabblers' or 'divers'.  This refers to how the ducks feed on the water of ponds and lakeshores. Mallards are dabblers. They paddle slowly in shallow water looking for snails, worms, insects, or seeds among the aquatic plant material. They dip their heads under water and search for food with their bills.  But their bodies are very buoyant, so when feeding they are almost comical as they bob and dabble, with tails upright and legs visible.

sparrow feeding on shore

Evidently there are still damselflies or dragonflies among the reeds and grasses on the shore.  This sparrow scored one while hopping in the shallow water of the pond.