Well, the Holiday Pond peepers are in fine voice tonight. A beautiful amphibian a cappella tribute to the full moon. The heralds of Spring that, rain or snow, commit her to a new season. Complements of the night critters of the Hideaway.
Author: Bob
Gus Goose
It’s been busy around the pond for the last several days. Migrating ducks, mostly mallards, have been dropping in on a regular basis. They generally splash down in late morning or early afternoon. They’ll dabble around the edges of the pond, feeding on submerged vegetation, butts aimed heavenward. Dignity is not their forte’. They’ll take off at sunset or early sunrise. Often dropping a gratuity or two in the pond as they leave. Loathsome expression of gratitude, if you ask me.
In spite of our efforts to move them out, the geese have prevailed. And they’re clearly in a family way. We should do a better job of monitoring the behavior of our overnight guests. She’s feverishly building a nest on the island. An unfortunate fact for several reasons. First, some of the newly hatched goslings will quickly become tiny feathered hors d’oeuvres for the local snapper population. The goose gods are cruel. Two, if they survive, these small winged beasts will evolve into the meanest miniature raptors since the Jurassic mass extinction. Intra-familial war looms. Three, they poop with the avid gusto of a John Deere manure spreader. Copiously. On the lawn.
For the last two days, while she’s been warming the nest, he’s been spending the time floating on the pond, head under his wing, sound asleep. A worried prospective father he‘s not.
Our alpha male six point buck visited with his harem again last evening. Some guys have all the luck. On second thought, a harem? With all that must entail? Maybe not.
Early spring moves on apace, The squirrels continue their crazy springtime rituals. Prospecting for long lost acorns. Minding their kits. Chuck, our resident groundhog, has suddenly re-inhabited his former home under our sun porch. Apparently his recent digs in the abandoned drain pipe near the woods are for winter use only. A wealthy woodchuck. Who woulda thunk?
The day’s idyllic peace was rudely disturbed when a frantic raccoon burst onto the scene. It ran from the woods like its tail was afire. Across the lawn, around the ledge and up the mountain before we could lay a lens on it. Didn’t see its pursuer. Just as well, I suppose. At the same time, a pair of mallards hit the water very near to where the goose was taking a lunch break. Seemingly disinterested in one another, the goose and the mallards went their separate ways.
The bank on the eastern edge of the pond is warmed by the afternoon sun. Many of the Hideaway critters– turtles, snakes, birds, etc–enjoy relaxing and sunning themselves there. The mallards, after exploring and having a watery snack, shook themselves dry and spent an hour warming themselves. Just before sunset they took to the air. Off on the avian highway. Destination some unknown place far, far north.
“Tonight I heard the wild goose cry
Hanging north in the lonely sky–”
“The Wild Goose”–Frankie Lane
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Warp Speed on Hideaway Pond
Things around the pond seem to have been happening at warp speed during the last few days. Turn my back and I miss some of Mother Nature’s finest acts. So there’s a very good chance that there will be some gaps in this account.
But how could I miss the bright scarlet, ready to burst buds of the swamp maples. “Swamp” maples. Always struck me as an unfit name for such a beautiful harbinger of spring. Yet it occurs to me that swamps yield other beautiful things. Water lilies. Spanish moss. The great white egret. Even Hideaway Pond was once a swamp. Thus, all hail the humble swamp maple. Long may she bloom.
Daffodils and forsythia are just coming into full flower, as has the overgrown Andromeda near the studio. A robin has taken up residence in a nearby pine. The cardinals have weathered the winter and decided to hang around to start a new family. And the goldfinches are gradually changing color from winter’s drab gray to gold.
The Canada geese, of course, are a constant presence throughout all other events. As ornery and obstreperous as ever, they deserve only brief mention. Pretty. Yes. But they consider themselves to be the rock stars of the avian set. Very unpleasant company. With the digestive system of a Howitzer.
This afternoon , a six point buck arrived with three lady friends . They broke for lunch near the ledge before disappearing into the woods. It’s being spring, who knows what went on in there. All four re-emerged two hours later. No smiles or sly grins, so I guess nothing happened, really. They were still garbed in the dull gray/brown palette of winter. It makes them almost impossible to see until their motion catches the eye. They grazed by the pond, along the ledge and into the woods across the road.
The squirrels have been racing around doing what squirrels do in the Spring. Tending to their kits and prospecting for the acorns that hey buried last September. And forgot by October.
Once again, my lovely bride spied and fell in love with a small rabbit. Mother Nature is a cupid. A rite of spring.
The pond has been full of so much activity that it has blurred into a sforzando of air, water and wings. Every morning and afternoon has brought flights of mallards and wood ducks. A few hooded mergansers have joined in the fray. We await the first great blue heron.
But I expect that the bass will be happy to await that event as long as possible. Old Blue turns summer into an annual existential experience for them. Though sterile, the poor grass carp are now the bullies of the pond. They have grown to a couple of feet in length and become too much of a mouthful for a heron. The bass are a different story. Fortunately, they procreate or they would become an extinct species.
So it boils down to this. The grass carp are more secure, but the bass have more fun. Which does your inner Pisces prefer?
Boiling Over
Well, the pond has been boiling over with activity during the past two days. Friday (it’s now Sunday a.m.) two mallards dropped in during the morning. Four wood ducks followed in the mid- afternoon. Yesterday, even more avian traffic. Six wood ducks splashed down in the afternoon. They were joined at sunset by two more. These made a way stop in the trees before joining their pals on the pond. Wood ducks are tree dwellers, so they’re right at home in a branchy hangout.
We’re apparently on an increasingly popular migration path. I think I’ll have to put in a third runway to help incoming and outgoing traffic deal with crosswinds.
My lovely bride has informed me that two mallards just splashed down on the pond. They’ll putter around, as is their wont. And probably fly off at sunset without so much as a fare ye well. Ungrateful cads.
A six point buck dropped by with three of his girlfriends Friday evening. We managed to get a few photos of the ladies. You’ll notice in the photos that their coats are a little shabby. The result of a change in garb from winter’s drab gray/brown to the rusty red of spring. Unfortunately, his royal buckness stayed well into the shadows of the woods and out of photo range. I guess he fancies himself the strong, silent type, Snob.
Some of the smaller and more elusive critters are busy too. Chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, moles and their ilk. The ilks spend most of their time in subterranean mode with the moles. Signs of a piscatorial awakening are becoming more evident. The grass carp carve more frequent grooves on the surface of the pond in search of meager windblown scraps. Bass, crayfish and minnows still lurk in the dark. Lurking is their norm. No peepers yet. But soon.
Chuck, the groundhog has been a bit scarce lately. Not having had the opportunity to check Chuck (he’s a bit sensitive about this) it’s occurred to us that Chuck may actually be Charlene. She/he could be nursing a new box of Chucklets (har) under the sun porch. Anyway, we run a non-sexist establishment here, so we’ll leave him/her to his/her chosen lifestyle. LGBT and Q are our middle initials.
Incidentally, the daffodils and forsythia are beginning to bloom. And we discovered some crocuses yesterday. Small explosions of forgotten color. Free joy.
“Spring is Nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s party!’”–Robin Williams
A Little Snow
Got a little snow today. Not much, but it kept the Hideaway critters indoors. Including us people critters.
Lullaby of Birdland
Well, one could hear the faint strains of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Lullaby of Birdland” wafting over the surface of the pond today. Three pairs of wood ducks and two pairs of mallards splashed down this morning. No sooner had they gassed up and taken off than two more pairs of each arrived. Much more of this and we’re going to have to carry umbrellas when we go outside. Even on sunny days.
Critter Caravan
An interesting hour around the pond. A critter caravan, of sorts, has just dropped by. You’ll notice that the small doe, pretty as she is, looks a bit shabby. The little lady is not, as one might think, a homeless mammalian waif. She is, instead, in the process of shedding her drab winter coat for the lovely rust wardrobe of spring. A cervidean Cinderella if you will. One might think, from the pose, that the turkeys are not on speaking terms. They are, in fact, looking over their shoulders at the deer. They have just completed a staring contest with the it. One born out of mutual curiosity, I assume, there being nothing territorial between the two. I’ve seen turkeys and deer behave this way before. In fact, turkeys will stop and stare at just about anything. Actually, they’re pretty dumb, if you ask me. I once saw a flock of about six assemble around a freshly fertilized patch of grass and stare for about an hour. They have amazing eye sight, but I’m convinced that their sense of vision has sucked all of the energy out of every other sense in their tiny little brains. The geese are included in this small album because they’re always hanging around. And they’re just too damn mean and intimidating to deal with. You may notice that the photo of the wood ducks, if blown up, is a little bit blurry. They may have been into the fermented swamp grass again. On the other hand, were I blown up, I’d probably be a little blurry too
Bird Bonanza
Well, it’s been quite a day around Hideaway Pond. Aside from the resident 2 geese, 2 mallards and 2 wood ducks visited this morning. Late this afternoon, 6 wood ducks and 2 mallards flew in. They all puttered around in the water for an hour or so before the wood ducks took to the trees and flew away a short time later. If they keep this up, I’m going to have to install runway lights,
Around the Hideaway
Well, things are suddenly getting very active around Hideaway Pond. Subtle signs of an early spring are beginning to show. The dark reds of the swamp maple buds are ablaze. Daffodils have grown a brave four inches in face of the last frigid gasps of late winter. A few shy azalea buds–those that the deer haven’t eaten–are sampling the early spring air. And the Andromeda, always at the vanguard of spring, is loaded with blossoms. Before long, lilies of the valley will peek out from its shadow.
Last evening a buck and four does chased by. Guess the
they didn’t get the memo that rutting season is long over. Any self
respecting doe should be dropping a fawn or two about now.
But who am I to question their cervidaen shenanigans?
Chuck, the resident groundhog has finally emerged from his luxurious digs in the abandoned drainpipe near the pond. This morning he surprised us by running from under the porch to an undisclosed destination in the woods. He was last seen running up the driveway and into a small shady cave in the ledge. I hear by the critter grape vine that he’s prospecting for a cool summer home. Some groundhogs like to feign an upper class social status. Summer home, indeed.
The guys running the landfill say that the bears are out. And what better authority on this subject than the guys running the landfill? That means that very hungry mom bears and their cubs are emerging from their winter shelters. It’s been a long winter without nourishment for Mom. Most of her energy has been devoted to the birth and nursing of her cubs. And, as with most stay at home moms, her long indoor confinement hasn’t improved her disposition.
Smaller critters like squirrels and rabbits, find themselves in the same family way as the bears. Albeit on a much smaller scale. And they are far less likely to be found gnawing on a careless human being. Though a pissed squirrel is not to be trifled with.
A few of the grass carp have roused from their winter stupor. Their noses carve small wakes on the surface of the pond as they skim for skimpy detritus blown in by the wind. They’ll find better fare as spring brings with it fresh pond vegetation. The annual high point of their sad sterile little existence. “Splendor in the Grass“.
A couple of days ago, two flights of wood ducks and one of hooded mergansers splashed down on the pond. And two hooded mergansers arrived yesterday. All of them lifted off north at sunset. Not even a note of thanks. Just ate, pooped and left. Sheesh.
Arriving with yesterday’s mergansers were a pair of geese. Being highly territorial, they are not getting along well with the pair who planted their flag here two weeks ago. The new pair have established a beachhead on the island. However, having observed the bellicose behavior of the resident pair, we expect that the interlopers will soon flee. Meanwhile, their open warfare has provided an afternoon of entertainment.
OK. Just as I thought the drama was coming to an end, the visiting pair has decided to indulge in a little extracurricular avian–um–well, you get my drift. In the water. All while waging war.
Time for dinner. I’ll watch the reruns.
“Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.”
– Unknown
Mergansers & Mallards, Oh My
More Hideaway Pond action. As though the recent bear and squirrel bonanza were not enough excitement.
Two pairs of mallards and five hooded mergansers splashed down on the pond today. The first of the migration season. Perhaps harbingers of an early spring? One hopes.
The mallards puttered quietly around the shore, seeking whatever edible goods they could find among the shallows and dead grass. The mergansers entertained themselves all afternoon, diving for mystery items on the bottom. Not sure what was down there, but it was apparently worth their birdly time. I didn’t ask. There were raucous interludes between dives. During these, riots of noisy splashing and wing beating took place among the mergansers. Shameful behavior. They acted as though this were their own personal avian spa, for cryin’ out loud.
It appeared that both the mergansers and the mallards were preparing to bed down for the night as darkness fell. They’ll no doubt have fled north by sunrise.
Meanwhile the fish, by now beginning to stir from their winter long slumber, may wonder what all of that racket is up on their watery roof. But, then, fish are not known for their mental acuity. In fact, if you wanna know, they’re downright dumb. Don’t tell them I said so. They’re also very sensitive and insecure. Ever see an insecure fish? Not a pretty sight.
