After studying wildlife for a few seasons, I am still surprised to find
that they aren't all just contained by some wilderness somewhere. There
are quite a few that live in your own backyard. I routinely see more
wildlife walking to class than I typically do on hikes in the wilderness
(which I realize has more to do with how habituated they are, but
still).
Despite having lived at my current place for 9 months, I recently stumbled upon a small wetland near my house for the first time. It is smack in the middle of developed residential neighborhoods, so I was not expecting much from a little duckpond.
Bancroft Pond is small, but still bigger than I expected. Despite the path running through it, the area is obviously designed for waterfowl rather than people. In the middle of the city, it was surprising and lovely.
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| Ladiiiies? |
The redwing blackbirds were in an uproar, the males following the females and desperately trying to attract their attention. They obviously gave no craps about humans watching their love affairs. I sat by the pond, amused to watch their antics, when a little family popped out.
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| Mama eyeballing me despite my stealthy disguise. |
I was reminded very much of my time in Alaska. I know it's just a Canada goose, but it is a magical thing anyway. Here in the middle of human residences, a wild little family is also eking out a living.
On my next visit (in which I failed to bring a camera), a great blue heron peeked out from behind the reeds, and an American Coot swam around pretending it was a duck.
Fortunately for humans, life is almost unstoppable. There are still a lot of amazing things out there worth protecting.
