Hi Tweeters:

Sunday evening I was standing by 'my' pond listening to a coyote
calling when I saw one Mallard circle the pond like it was coming in
for a landing. But I was startled when I heard the loud bam of
something hitting the blue metal roof of my husband's mill. From there
the duck made another landing on the grass in front of me looking a bit
crippled. I walked toward it to see if it had a broken leg or other
body part but it walked/crawled into the pond. Perhaps this
inexperienced flyer mistook the blue roof as a reflection of the pond's
surface? Unfortunately the water level of the pond is down to about six
inches and mostly matted vegetation (the creek has almost dried up too)
so maybe it was hoping it had found some water! This morning I looked
in the pond to see if the regular three Mallard juveniles that grew up
there where present but only two flew away (their first flight).

Joy Stickney-Markgraf
near White Salmon WA
email: joymarkgraf at gorge.net