A Year On The Pond

  It's safe to say that here at Pond House everything is either scrapping or shagging.    The Geese are still coming and going but happily showing no signs of nesting here which is a relief.  Meanwhile, the best news is Egwina is on eggs!  She's settled back into her routine of coming out in the evening, stretching her wings, having a wash and then sitting on the doormat shouting loudly to be fed.  You can pretty much set a watch by her now.  Exciting times. In frog news they seem to be absolutely everywhere at present.  I'm not a fan of frogs at all really so this time of the year is tricky for me.   They come out first thing in a morning and last thing at night and cover the drives and pathways.  We've run over several and do every year, you simply cant see them.  Disgustingly the magpies and crows make pretty short work of any dead frogs (boak).  There are also many on the back patio as well as toads...

  My Facebook memories tell me this pair turned up around the same time last year. How a year has flown.  Obviously I cant be sure these are the same geese, and if pressed I'd probably lean toward them being a different pair as they are nowhere near as antsy as the pair we hosted last year, unless they mellowed.  I mean, it's been a hell of a year, who knows? They have been visiting on an off for a week or so now.  Egwina and Duncan are reasonably happy in their company.  Last years pair were a little dominant over food but the newbies, christened Maverick and Goose, seem happy to wait for the ducks to have their fill before tucking in. As it's now clearly spring the daffs are out and the mating season is in full swing.  At one point last week we had around six geese each slightly angrier than the last.  The resulting scrap sent tidal waves across the pond and the ducks fleeing for the bank to keep out of the way. ...