A work day's end was fruitful witnessing the passage of ducks upon our waters. In Prospect that has plenty of water, that means ducks galore
A first stop at the Upper Pool now 25% ice free revealed a pair of Wood Ducks that came out from the shore and went back in .
Then after the long walk through the Nethermead I came upon partially iced Prospect Lake about 65% open ,had nice stuff
First it was 4 Ring necked Ducks followed by 5 Hooded Mergansers. Very nice to see were the Courtship rituals performed by the Hoodies, the drakes throwing back their heads. There were even clashes by the drakes for the affection of the hens .
Then our long standing species residents of Prospect winter , the Common Mergansers looked gorgeous in the light. First I saw 3, but later coming out of three sisters Islands, 4 more common mergansers sailed out;in the mix ,6 drakes and a lone hen complemented the numerous Northern Shovelers hanging close to 3 Sisters. Two Black Ducks on the ice edge added more diversity.
Not bad for my walk home from work
"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!"
-- Thomas Wentworth Higginson
