Day 87: Bird watching

This morning I pulled back my office curtains to survey the yard as I always do.  The squirrels were hanging on the bird feeders, juncos and bluejays flitted about, and the cardinals lit on a slender oak branch.  Suddenly, the male cardinal started to fly into the window again.  His feet hit, but I yelled and he flew off.

A few minutes later I turned back to the scene and there were five turkeys pecking seeds in the dirt.  In past years, a dozen or so would raid the bird feeders but we haven't seen them all winter.

Stopping on Risley St. bridge on our morning walk, we spied a pair of mallards swimming down the creek.  The male rode the first set of rapids, but the female flew over them.  He kept looking back and quacking as she walked through the shallows.   She waddled into a deeper channel and paddled on leisurely to catch up with him.