and a strong cup of coffee

Each year, a pair of Mallard ducks land in the pond. Most of the time, they leave after a week or so but this year, they seem to be staying around.  We are hoping for some ducklings later on this spring. Female Mallard sits on a potential nest while the male looks on Male and female Mallard Male Mallard duck

I just have a feeling that this year will be my year and I will be bagging one of these birds. We moved our blind to a new spot this year and I am hopeful that it will put us closer to the birds than we have seen .  Dad, Hubby and I set it up and put a trail camera out to see if there are any birds around since last spring we saw everything but a turkey. A week later, we went back to tweak a few things and check the camera. On our drive in, two hens ran away from us and into the woods.  That was a good sign!  We parked and pulled everything out of the car and over to the blind and some newly transplanted trees.  I headed for the camera and SD card. I went through roughly 75 pictures of the trees before I came to the first of a handful of deer pictures. Unlike most springs, none of these deer were thin. The extra layer of fat that they put on in the fall was still visible and come hunting season, they should be in great shape and weight!  I kept flippi...

You can find some pretty cool things while walking in the woods and along back roads. I am going to try to share more of these finds with  you, more often.  First up, these awesome antlers! They were on the side of a hunting cabin at the very end of a dirt road.