Marsh Hen Rescue

Today was the first day to fill up some crab pots with bait. That done this morning, a mid afternoon check led to the discovery of this bird inside a dry pot on the pier. Maybe it was after something, perhaps some old bait but it was in need of rescue.
This is a Clapper Rail, aka Marsh Hen. Rails are marsh birds, feeding and nesting in the marshes. We have plenty of marshes nearby, but I have never seen a Rail on our shoreline.
It was let go just after this shot and it took off in low fly, and eventually out of the yard. I am sure it was quite a trauma for the bird, but it was a real treat for us.
I did a bit of reading on the bird and the neatest thing that I found was that the chicks are all black!

Hope in the Hedges

A nest of mallard eggs spotted in the edge of the garden. What a wonderful accomplishment it will be to get this nest to hatch out. We will be as vigilant as we can for snakes. Not much we can do about the critters of the night.

Nothing cuter than a mallard duckling! I'm hoping for a garden full!

Note: Update today is that the female mallard is sitting on the nest.

Little bit of Spring

Spring flowers in the garden provide splashes of color against all the new green. The tulips are remnants of a long ago bed. The irises love it here and they multiply easily. These are divisions from two years ago.

Nuthatch

This little bird is my current favorite. He is usually spotted headed first down a tree. I love the nasal call of 'neep, neep.' I was hanging out my studio window this afternoon watching the little storms pass through and caught this nuthatch looking for a bite. There were two on the tree and when they finally met they briefly fought and one flew off.