Woodland Corners…

My daughter seems to have this thing about nearly treading in unspeakables.

I’m not talking about dog poo although that’s bad enough.

I’ve already talked about the cats in her house bringing in gifts and then chasing them around the rooms and squabbling over them.

One morning on her early way to work as a Star Barista, she almost stepped on this at the bottom of her stairs,

Mouse

she said it looked so peaceful just lying there as if fast asleep.

I shuddered, someone had to pick the vermin up and dispose of it.  Not she!

Deftly snapping a picture before stepping over it to continue on her way to Southend and her job, she didn’t give the mouse another thought until she emailed me the photo!

Just this week she sent me another quick shot.

Bird

A baby bird lying serenely on the pavement outside her house, dead of course!  Doesn’t it look like a prehistoric creature?

I was reminded of the year we watched a cardinal couple in our Texas garden patiently incubate and hatch a nestful of babies only to be flooded out by a freak April storm.  We found the remains of naked baby birds scattered near and far around our garden and a pair of bewildered cardinals sitting in the remains of their empty, ragged nest.

This spring we are watching for the appearance of what we feel sure are parakeet babies in our willow tree.  With all the territorial guarding going on I will be very surprised if no young materialise, I am just wondering how much longer before they emerge, scantily feathered and ugly?

I monitor spring’s advance in Kelsey Park, the goslings are out and about, fully clad in their yellow fluff, being hurried undercover,

Goslings3

and feeding on the lawns, parents hovering and noisy if we get too close!

Goslings2

The Mandarins,

Mandarin

what’s with the female of the species?

MandarinFemale

have their webbed feet full with their offspring, this one is as large as the fully grown males on babysitting duty,

MadarinMales

He’s the one in the middle facing away!  He was fast!

There are individual heron off the island dotted around the pond hunting for fish for their young,

heron2

Keeping my eyes peeled and carefully watching my step, I don’t want to step on one of the babies, I walk slowly around each woodland corner.

 

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