Photo: Blondie

Photo by Bruce Hill

I just realized that I don't think of ducks as birds. Birds are those speedy little creatures darting around the trees checking for bugs, taking baths in bird baths and puddles, and eating from colorful bird feeders.

Ducks are big and noisy and use lakes for their baths. They're like the tamest, calmest form of wildlife. They don't eat your cats like the coyotes do, steal your fish catch or raid your pond like the otters do. They don't eat your tulips, or munch on your garden like the deer do.

In fact, they usually stay out of your yard, and you have to go to them at Echo Lake, Ronald Bog, Twin Ponds, Bitter Lake, and the catchment pond at the I-5 interchange.

They have adorable, clumsy babies who fall down sewers and have to be rescued. They march their babies across busy roads, halting traffic.

They're noisy and if there are too many of them, they can leave a serious amount of poo behind.

But they are pretty and entertaining to watch. They are in a special category of their own.

--Diane Hettrick