So the pictures finally came through (I had to lower the resolution of the files a little), and here they are.

So this is the second or third year that we’ve had a pair of mallards coming up to the side feeder to graze. We don’t live that far from a large lake, where they spend majority of their time, and when the creek has water in it for them to paddle up and down, they occasionally come through to graze on any sunflower seeds that have fallen out of the bird feeder (or that I may have intentionally spilled on the ground for them and the other birds that are ground feeders). I don’t know if this is the same pair of mallards that have visited year after year, but I’m pretty sure that it is (I can’t see them tell other birds where there is prime bird seed to munch on).

It’s nice to see certain wildlife coming back around yearly (even if it’s not the same animal). I haven’t see any turkeys in the neighborhood so far, and while I did see a opossum a few days ago–it toddled off too quickly and I couldn’t get a picture of it. I was really happy to see it though, it meant there is some natural tick control in the area (as tick that latches on to a opossum usually dies quickly), and this is going to be a very bad year for ticks (and mosquitoes). But luckily if there are mosquito larvae in the creek–it’s flowing so they will be washed down stream, and there are numerous other critters that like to snack on mosquito larvae.