Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Sunday, July 8, 2012

Of Ducks, Geese and Man~



I am so far behind with my blogging, I may never catch up!
 
With this entry, I will share something from mid-May to last Monday.
 
The story begins with an early morning phone call from my friend Sandy...
"Mary, you have got to come quick, some baby ducks are about to get hit, they are with their parents along side of the road, and it is just awful. " 

I asked her where she was and headed out the door, got into my car and realized, I still had my nightgown on, and that would never do.  
After a quick dash back inside, changed, and then back to car, I was driving like a safe maniac to get to the scene, some 3 miles from home.  
Sure enough, just like a replay from last year, there was momma duck, this time, with daddy duck and their 5 little ducklings, making their way along a very busy 2 lanes, which becomes 4 lanes, with lots of early morning traffic, and they were heading for disaster, with a capital D!
 I gathered up 2 ducklings first and watched the male fly across the lanes of traffic in the wrong direction, and thought, well, I can't worry about him right now.
  Then I gathered up the remaining 3 ducklings, which all fit into my left hand.  
All the while momma duck is quacking and flying around, landing and pleading, as I assured her, that I had her best interest in the palm of my hand and that we could do this, but she needed to trust me.  
As I walked, I allowed the little duckling heads to pop out and keep up with their baby  peeping quacks, so she would know they were OK.  
I walked through the parking lots of several business establishments and momma duck continued to keep up, or sometimes, fly and land in front of me.  
We finally made it to a grassy patch, by a traffic signal and as I waited, momma duck stayed close by me and then while the light was still red, she flew across the 4 lanes of moving traffic... 
Yeah, she knew where I was headed, or at the very least, wanted me to follow her.  
Once the light turned green, we were off, and I caught up with her. 
Crystal Lake was in my view, but these little ducklings would have a bad chance as tiny as they were, and those big turtles were awaiting breakfast.  
I then decided on a backyard with lots of shade trees to place these little ones down on, across the lane from the lake.  
It was a hectic few minutes, I was exhausted, but, all turned out beautifully, and I hope that all of them have made it to swim and eventually fly for a very long time...

*Note...last year I shared something very similar that happened at the same place, and my bet, is this is the same pair that keep coming back~ 

I am linking up with Mary for "Mosaic Monday" at
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/
and

Dave for "World Bird Wednesday" at
http://www.pineriverreview.blogspot.com/
 
 


 Please tell me that is not a smile of appreciation on her lovely face...


 The male Mallard duck above is not their daddy duck, but a likeness of, since the daddy flew the scene and was never seen again~


 Young Canada Geese goslings at Cave Hill~
 
 
 
 
 
 


I am thinking that some ducks have been cross breeding here, not sure, but just thinking in that direction...is that not the sweetest couple featured below~
 


 More Mallard ducks  and ducklings at Harrods Creek and the Ohio River~
 
 
 
 


Below a goose drying it's wings~

Just about every Monday for the past couple of years, the weather permitting, I take my now, 88 year old father-in-law on outings and most of the time, we end up at Cave Hill.  
He LOVES to feed the ducks and geese.  
Last Monday, we were at his favorite spot and I took these images.  
I then headed down the hill to feed some bread to the 2 Mute Swans. 
When I turned around to return to Dad, I saw a man lying on the ground in front of Dad...what on earth...  
It turned out to be a reporter from the local Courier Journal newspaper and he was going to feature a photograph of Dad feeding his friends in the next days newspaper.  
It was in there and I must confess, that gentleman's image turned out really awful, but dad was thrilled and was quite happy that he had made the news, in a good way~

 

30 comments:

  1. So glad you got those ducklings to safety. Loved all your excellent photos and the story too!

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  2. Greatg Mary, you're a star. Lovable pictures.

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  3. Another kind deed. Also a great blog. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. way to go on the duckling save! and in keeping safe yourself! the goslings are beautiful! so soft looking!

    and your father-in-law surrounded by all those happy, hungry ducks and geese is just precious! bless you!

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  5. Such a sweet story, with a happy ending! You certainly did your good deed for the day!

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  6. Great job, Mary! The ducklings and goslings are so cute! You took some wonderful photos!

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  7. So many cute fuzzball shots! Love that white and brown couple. So good to see your father in law feeding the geese. Times like those are so precious.

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  8. Oh Mary there's just so much wonderful in this post, I hardly know where to start.....you are a prime rescuer -- I hope the ducklings make it in that pond and I hope the parents learn to come back to this safe place next year and don't put you through this again!! (What if you hadn't been there?).....
    I loved the part about your father-in-law too -- good for him and good for you (the paper should have used your images!)

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  9. What sweet photos of your father-in-law feeding the ducks and geese. You captured a good photo of the photographer. Do you read Imagery by Kimberly? It's Kim of "Daisy Cottage" and she tells the ongoing story of ducks and geese and swans on the lake where she lives. Right now there is a Papa Goose and a Mama Duck and the little ducklings all because Papa Duck took off. You'd probably love it and she would probably love to see this, too.

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  10. You're a hero! Great job of saving the ducklings. Beautiful photos of them, too.

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  11. Oh my gosh! SUCH great photos...they are all nice but I really like the geese! Thx for sharing~

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  12. Wonderful story of the duck rescue. I remember as a school bus driver stopping the bus and putting on the flashing lights in springtime when momma ducks would parade their offspring across busy town traffic. It was lovely that the photographer took your father in law's picture for the paper. Valerie

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  13. Mary, I took my time looking at these photos...they are nothing short of amazing. Absolutely gorgeous!! You are such a sweet heart!

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  14. Well done Mary. You are a hero for saving those ducklings from getting squashed on the highway - not everyone would slow down or stop like we would. A great story with a very happy ending. I hope you got your breakfast eventually after your heroics. Have a wonderful week, only 4 days left here.

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  15. these photos make my heart swell with love - for you and the good deeds you practice and for the families of ducks/geese and how beautifully they live their lives. You just made my day by sharing this lovely post, and the most happy ending to the story! I hope they all get to swim and fly for a very long time. thanks Mary. all the best to you. take good care how, and happy Monday.

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  16. Thank heavens for people like you that help our wildlife friends - and a happy ending here! They are nice photos of your fil feeding the ducks.

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  17. Your blog posts never fail to lift my spirits and this has been such a lovely story - that little family was so lucky to have you on hand to help them. Just beautiful photos of the birds - there's nothing cuter than a baby duckling!

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  18. Precious pictures. A real joy to read your post today.

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  19. What a wonderful deed . I love those ducks and your father in law looks so good.

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  20. Fantastic to see Mary... and it made for a lovely post.
    Many thanks for sharing.

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  21. I love your story about rescuing the ducklings and I'm still chuckling at the phrase "safe maniac" - don't think I've ever heard that before!
    You have many beautiful photos here.
    The shots of your father-in-law feeding the geese are wonderful.

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  22. Great photos of all those cute little ducks and I am so glad you were able to rescue the babies from the traffic.

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  23. Mary, what a great story! I love the kind with the happy ending. And your shots of the ducklings are too darling. Those shots of your father-in-law are wonderful, too, and now he's doubly famous!

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  24. Wau - what some beautiful pictures / collages you show. Thanks for viewing. Wishing you a good day :) Hanne Bente

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  25. Way to go Mary! There is really nothing cuter than a bunch of baby ducks and goslings is there?

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  26. Mary, you are so sweet to help the Mallard family. I am sure Momma was very appreciative. Cute ducklings and great photos.

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  27. Great WBW post!
    So lovely to see these ducklings!

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  28. Fabulous....

    I especially like the one photo of the two from the backside, walking along....shows such a strong bonding between the species.


    Wood Stork

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  29. A really nice post Mary, and some really nice shots.

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