Sights high and low…

It was a cool, windy, and grey morning, and I had to go to school anyway, but I was afraid of missing something amazing, because there’s been so much going on lately, so I ran into the park for a quick visit to just the pond and the river at the north end.

The queen still rests on her throne, with her gander dutifully standing guard nearby, but the pond was otherwise empty.

The excitement began as I headed to the river and heard a little mewing sound from above. Look who I found in the branches overhead: a pair of wood ducks, perhaps looking for a nesting cavity.

Finding these little cuties high up in a tree hasn’t gotten old yet.

When I did finally reach the north end, I was surprised to find a pair of goldeneyes and a red-breasted merganser drake, but they were too far out on the water for presentable pictures.

Instead, the ice formations along the river have gotten even longer and more elaborate, and I suspect the receding river water helps with that. Donna wrote in to report that they are called “ice bells”, and WQAD-TV in Moline, IL confirms that.