The Birds Say Spring Has Finally Arrived

A walk around the neighborhood the other day found me hanging around the bird feeder, along with some  feathered fellows.  The pan of that bird feeder looks like it's seen better days!

 There were more feathered friends a little further along at Lake Elizabeth.  The American Coot moved around  a lot and did not cooperate as a subject, though he got closer than any of his one hundred friends spread out over our lake.  When I looked it up online I discovered that the American Coot is more closely related to Sandhill Cranes than to Mallards, which I thought was interesting.

When my arms got tired I gave up and walked back home, swinging by another bird feeder to see what might be hanging around and found some ducks.  I liked the sunlight peeking out on the female Mallard, who was much more cooperative!  Her mate kept giving me his backside though.  I  keep going to that same spot because I saw a big group of juvenile grouse heading off into the brush a while back, but haven't spotted them again since.