A Gardener's Diary

Mother Nature can be a real you-know-what come Spring. She becomes the female version of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. From sunshine and 70’s to clouds and 30’s, chilling rains and snowy afternoons, from one day to the next and sometimes, from hour to hour, you just don’t know what weather you’re going to get!

But when it comes to love’s timetable nothing can deter the pull to propagate the species. When the ducks and geese come back to the pond, I know in late March and April, through melting ice on the pond and pellets of snow and rain, love will conquer.

Although I don’t always catch the mallards and wood ducks “tending to business,” the geese are easy. Their mating ritual is lovely and Act 1 of both male and female bobbing their heads in and out of the water gives me time to set up the camera. Maybe you might think me a voyeur, spying on the intimate happenings of wildlife, but I just consider myself lucky. The pond is a refuge — a safe haven and a constant source of activity which gives me nothing but pleasure.

So, without further ado, Act II and III:

It is very beautiful and tender.

Let’s hope on a warm, sunny day, I’ll see goslings being doted over by protective parents!

#wildlife #waterfowl #canadiangeese #geesemating