Pond Happenings

I make several trips to our pond each day...

first thing in the morning,

to let the ducks out,

last thing at night to close them back in,

and occasional trips in between with the dogs.

Each and every time I arrive at the pond,

seven wild ducks fly away.

They are there all of the time,

usually in this corner of the pond....

but apparently quite shy.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to sit by the pond

and wait to see if any of the wild ducks show up.

Our 18 assorted ducks were quietly sitting on the bank.

All of a sudden, over my head I heard a fluttering,

and one wild duck landed in the pond....

on the far side.

I took a couple of pictures from across the pond,

afraid to move, lest I scare him away.

This picture is not the best quality, but you can

at least see his coloration.

I am thinking it might be a young wood duck.

I will need to do a little research to be sure.

(After researching, I am pretty sure that it is an immature wood duck.)

If any of you recognize the breed, please leave me a comment.

While sitting there, Oakley came running up.

At this point the wild duck flew off, 

and the pond ducks swam out onto the water.

Oakley layed himself at my feet....

and started rolling around, scratching his back.

Closer and closer to the edge of the pond he rolled...

Until....

He rolled too far and rolled right into the pond.

And Oakley doesn't swim!

He jumped out of that pond and shook the water off

faster than I could take a picture!

I also wanted to show you how our pond ducks are starting to mature.

You can see by this picture that the boys are starting to grow

their duck tales.

The duck on the right is a male Cayuga,

on the left is a female.