Follow-up

Forgot one anecdote from our trip to High Point St. Park.

Before Kira started her migraine, we noticed a mallard and her young ducklings in the lake. There was a girl- maybe 14 or so, along with an older woman- taking pictures and feeding the ducklings. Of course, the ducklings, being so young and foolish, were coming closer and closer to the 14 year old. She would reach her hand under a duckling and lift it out of the water. Of course, the mama duck didn't like that much. She would quack and lunge a bit in the water as a warning. By this time, Kira and I were there, taking our own pictures. I told the girl that the mama duck was warning her to leave the babies alone.

This went on for about 5 minutes, with the mama's warnings making the ducklings back away for a bit, then the bread enticed them back closer to the girl. She tried again to pick up one of the ducklings, and again, the mama lunged and quacked, a bit more emphatically, as the duckling scooted out of the girl's hand.

Can you predict what will happen? Of course, the girl didn't listen to me when I said that she was being warned to leave the babies alone. One last time, one of the ducklings came close enough to be picked up, and the girl lifted it out of the water. The mama duck came unglued. She went up on her feet on the water, flapping her wings to get loft, and attacked the girl! Her beak was pinching and wings beating for about 30 seconds, before the young woman with the girl helped brush the duck off. I said, "She gave you two warnings to leave the ducklings alone."

She and the woman were shocked and laughing. No idea if they actually learned anything. And they say that animals are clueless!!! The mama duck and ducklings headed for deeper water and safety.

Oh, and I looked up silhouettes of bird of prey. That was definitely an eagle- most likely a golden since there was no "bald" head- but soooo cool that we actually got a photo of one. I was tickled to capture the scream, too. We could hear it clearly- even from a hundred feet or so up.

Still no word from the service department. Sigh.