Such a beautiful day and of course I had to drive to the park and see if the Swans are on their nests.
And they are! We have two families this year! The southern family.......
She decided to make her nest on top of the trash that had been gathered and left in a pile....but she is up high and can see all around....
She noticed me and after a few minutes she decided that I was not a threat and decided to take a "Swan Nap".......
Her mate was out on the lake .......
He was busy "tipping up" or "upending".
He wasn't the only one!
These Mallards were enjoying "upending" too.
Blooming was starting to happen......
See the white spot to the right of the tree? That is the lone Swan...that doesn't have a mate...
Just taking a "swan nap" and enjoying the sun.
Also on the south side of the bridge.......
This Redhead couple!
The Lesser Scaup couple....female, right and male below....
And the American Coot.....
This black & white duck was just swimming along minding her own business....When! This Mallard decided he wanted to make her his!
And so the courtship began...She didn't seem to happy .....
But in the end...I think he thought he had made a conquest! He swam off just quacking up a storm like he was letting every duck know that she was now his! LOL
The Weeping Willows are blooming and so is the Forsythia bush too....can't remember? Does that mean we get 3 more snows after it blooms? Hope not!!!!
Now I am on the other side of the bridge, the North side....this is where the other Swan couple is. Walking over to where they are nesting, I saw this beautiful Northern Cardinal...
A favorite, Sycamore Tree....
Then this couple was swimming by.....I think this is a first-year male Red-breasted Merganser and his mate.
(please if I am wrong let me know so I can correct this!)
Believe this is the female and the picture below the male.
There was a Coot on this side and he had caught something! Maybe a frog?
It must have been good....
Common Grackle chirping....
This Pied-billed Grebe caught a big fish and was having trouble swallowing the fish.....
He was really working hard at trying to swallow the fish...
Canadian Geese...this one has a tag on his neck.
These are Buffleheads ( I think)
View of the park....Ducks resting in the sun.....
This one was pretty...don't know what kind of duck.....
The Northern family......
She has made this her nest for several years....it is by the big Willow tree by the YMCA.
The park service has put up a fence...hopefully people will leave them alone.....
This male is not as aggressive as the male of the Southern couple. He kept an eye on me while I took his picture.
Through the blooming Willow tree.....
Another blooming tree.....
I will be back at the park when the trees are in full bloom. I hope to bring you pictures of that in a couple of weeks....Enjoy the nice days because remember what a winter we had!!!!
Till later!
