Yak

There are seven herons on the south side of #1 island today and two more on the opposite point. It's not the congregation that I saw last year, but still, it is a denseness of herons (I take no photos because they have some purpose that I feel I should not upset). I've never been one to personify animals, believing that we should keep people as people and wildlife as wildlife, but something in my right brain, in my creative side, tells me that herons are the elders. Not necessarily my elders, but elders none the less. They seem, through their calm behavior, their steady movements and their graceful flight to be the reincarnations of people who were, when they walked this earth, at harmony with nature. These elders that take the heron form aren't the generals, warriors or titans of industry. I don't know where they are. These are the gentlefolk, the ones who got solutions through gentle persuasion. These were the people who made everyone else calm down just by their presence... although some little fish may disagree.

As I paddle south across the bay, ducks everywhere I moving about. This usually signals the arrival of an eagle, but I see no eagle and the ducks ALL over the bay are in motion. It is something to see, if one is paying close attention. A soft roar of a thousand wings on water finally signals the arrival of an eagle, but it is just passing by. The ducks just keep flying and swimming about. Perhaps, ducks get spring fever.