Swan Song

Every few weeks or so, our freezer becomes stuffed with the stale, frozen ends of bread and we make our way to the duck pond.  We have two that are nearby.  This time we drove up to Beus.  Now, a little bit of backstory might be needed for what happened while we were there.  During the summer, the "caretakers" of the pond put up signs asking everyone not to feed the ducks and geese because it was encouraging the seagull population and the unhatched eggs were in jeopardy.  Well, no one wants that!  So, we hadn't been in a while.  The signs are all down now, but no one is coming to feed the birds.  I mean no one.  It's like a winter of starvation.  Someone used to come with grain and such, but there was none and I've never seen the birds act the way they did...

Samuel is so excited to feed the ducks and geese

The birds are all being really loud and gathering so closely that I decide to make them walk to the dock for feeding.

A fight breaks out

The birds are crazy loud and these two will not let go of each other

 There were some families taking pictures at the pond.  Most everyone skiddadled for their cars.  We stayed because it was like nothing we'd ever seen before.  James found a long branch and tried poking them apart.  I put a stop to that.

The photos don't do the intensity any justice

 When it was obvious that the fight would continue and maybe get bloody, we moved the children along around the pond.

My lover is sporting a beard!

Walking on ice

Gabrie practises her logging skills at the playground

A monkey for the monkey bars

Is this the artist or the fan of the How to Train Your Dragon at work?

Samuel want to pet the ducks while James feeds them

After playing at the park, we thought we'd feed the birds on the south side of the pond.  We hoped they'd be a little more tame.  They were, though still obviously hungry.  They slid all over the ice to get to the bread crumbs and the birds on the other side of the pond worked to make their way across to us...flying over and sliding across the ice barrier.  It was a fun day, but felt much more National Geographic than our usual outtings.