This fall, my neighbor, an avid grower of corn, fertilized his backyard garden and pinned black plastic over it. A couple of days later, a few ducks showed up and stayed for the night. He surmised that from above they may have mistook it for a pond.
The next evening more came. And then more. One evening my neighbor counted sixty of them, huddled together, sleeping on the plastic, their bills tucked into their feathers.
Every evening at dusk, they descend in wide circles over the neighborhood in groups of four or five, flying lower and lower, until they’re just above our heads.
My son walks with his strider bike up and down the sidewalk, stopping to point up. “Ga ga,” he calls. That’s his word for duck. Neighbors emerge from their houses. We stand together listening to the ducks call to one another as the sun sets over the Coast Range, and it feels like we’ve bought season tickets to a magnificent show.
Wow – like having your very own real life nature show.
Last week we had unusual snow (for where I live) and the cold weather drove the ‘country’ birds like fieldfare and red wing into town. I was treated to seeing able to see some birds close up that I usually only glimpse on the edge of a field.
Wow, that sounds amazing.
Hello, just thought Id say I like this post and your blog… found you via twitter, someone i follow retweeted you 🙂
Yes, there is nothing like “season tickets” to somthing as amazing as that!!!
Aaaah! Season tickets!!! Great Post!!!
How fun to watch!
However, I wouldn’t want to have to handle the black plastic come time to roll it back:)
Yes, I thought of that as well. 🙂
As I was reading, I was wondering how the season tickets were going to play in- and then ahhhh, how awesome! What a beautiful way to connect with nature and the community.