Spot & Stalk with the Kids

This was from sometime in April, but since I haven't put anything down in a while I though this would fill some space...

I was cutting the grass in the back yard one night, with the kids playing outside too, when I noticed a pair of mallards streak by, and cup up overhead. Being a waterfowl guy, I never get tired of watching ducks & geese do their thing while they cut through the air, so I stopped pushing the mower and watched these two lock up, then cut right down in the front yard! That was a first.

I don't know if they saw the bird feeder, or the other birds on the ground, but they must have made the association of food being present & decided to check it out. Well, I cut the mower, called the kids over, grabbed the camera, and we decided to try and see who could sneak up on the ducks and pluck a tail feather!! The kids eyes lit up, like are you serious??

So we rounded the opposite side of the house and belly crawled along the driveway to look under my truck & across the yard for the ducks. A slight rise in the front yard helped conceal us from the feeding mallards as we whispered our plans to cut the distance...

Then we quietly game planned to crawl down to the sidewalk, around the truck, and then slip up into the grass behind them....

I told them to go slow, stay low, and who ever plucked a tail feather would get a dollar. They were ready for the mission...

Well, they got close, but not close enough to earn a buck. No tail feathers were plucked on this attempt. I got a good laugh out of it, and so did some of the neighbors that were watching the whole thing unfold!!

 

Good times indeed!!