A Very Fowl Day

The past several days have been glorious to say the least! Everything has been bathed in sunshine, giving the spirit reason to hope for spring. Though the warmth of the sun was difficult to feel, the feelings of joy and peace it evoked were easy to sense.

There's nothing quite so healing as the warmth of the sun, the smell of an approaching spring and the awakening of nature above and below. It's a magical and magnificent adventure for the senses. It fills me to overflowing and I long to immerse myself in all that God has created!

Today was no exception. It was another glorious day and the only thing to be done with a glorious day, is to get outdoors and enjoy it.

I just know that spring is drawing nigh, I can feel it in my bones and smell it in the air. The air is sweet and fresh, the birds are busy and happy, their songs so joyous. Trees and other plants are beginning to bud and everything is coming to life again. All of nature is awakening from its' long winters nap.

My outdoor adventure today, focused on waterfowl in our local park. It was A Very Fowl Day indeed! Now why this play on words you might ask? Well, I live near the St. Joseph River and Merrifield Park is right along its' banks. The waterfowl are plentiful and absolutely gorgeous. The only problem with that is, when waterfowl are plentiful so is their poop! It's literally everywhere and that is very, very foul indeed.

So that's how I came up with the title for this blog entry.
I thought it was funny and I hope you do too!

I love the Mallard Ducks and Canadian Geese that swarm when bread crumbs are tossed into the water. While the regulars gorged themselves on bread, I noticed an unfamiliar goose among them. You'll meet him, or her, a bit later. But first, let me introduce you to the most friendly and handsome of all the mallards today.

This fellow was very friendly, even tempered, wasn't shy and not afraid of me at all. He didn't mind my taking his photograph numerous times either. I found him to be the perfect subject.

When I started taking his picture, he was searching feverishly for something to eat under the surface of the water. As I snapped this shot, he had just arose from the depths allowing me to capture the water droplets all over his face. The light hit his feathers just right to make them stand out.

Here it looks like he is checking out his reflection as he approached a female Mallard gliding along in front of him. It wasn't long before my subject found other things to be interested in, instead of the woman with the camera!

Meet the competition! She was gliding along so gracefully and captured my friendly Mallard's attention completely. In a matter of seconds he was in hot pursuit. As I said before, spring is drawing near. I don't know much about ducks or their matting habits, but he seemed very interested!

See! There he goes, with grand hopes of finding a mate for life! I sure hope he picks wisely, that's a BIG commitment. She did seem calm and very pretty! Sorry folks, that was my poor attempt at humor. It made my husband laugh at least.

Remember that unfamiliar goose I told you about earlier? Well here he is. I was fascinated with him, though he was extremely aggressive. He didn't like me AT all. Definitely not as friendly as my friend the Mallard Duck!

When we got home, my husband looked up geese and found out what type of goose he was. This handsome guy, or girl, is a Toulouse Goose. He swam around so peacefully, but when it came to bread crumbs in the water, he was anything BUT peaceful. As a matter of fact, he was down right nasty!

After I had my fill of photographing the waterfowl, my family and I headed home. We enjoyed our Very Fowl Day in the park and before we know it, spring will have officially arrived. Then there will be many more sun soaked days likes these to share.