interlude: duck!

may is nesting season, and all around como lake the mallards are pairing up. usually you see them swimming, of course, or in the reeds by the shore. but every so often a pair wants a little privacy and you come across them in unexpected places.

last night when i took the dogs on a damp evening stroll i spotted a mallard pair looking very out-of-place a few blocks from our house. they were sitting in the grass right by the curb. they were nowhere near the lake.

i have no idea what they were doing there, six blocks or more from the water. on a date? on vacation? waiting for the bus?

i crossed the street to keep riley and boscoe from barking at them. but clearly the ducks had noticed us. when i looked back, they had completely flattened out in the grass, i guess to avoid being seen. it made me laugh because it was such an absurd gesture--the grass is only a couple inches high and didn't hide them at all. but there they lay, bills pressed agains the ground, blob-like and motionless.

the dogs never noticed a thing.

i didn't have my camera with me, so you'll have to make do with this image from Google.