Top Photo: Female mallard pauses to look me over while preening.

Mallards stop into our wetlands often. They’ve nested here off and on over the years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

Mallards are one of the most recognizable duck species in the world occurring to some extent on every continent except Antartica.

Blue violets are in bloom.

Yellow-bellied sliders are out taking advantage of the sunlight, basking on every available surface to warm and perhaps help rid themselves of parasites.

Buckeye, keeps pushing forward. Leaves are beginning to take form and flower buds are swelling.

Things move fast in spring. Don’t miss any of it. Get outside NOW and enjoy it while the pollen, humidity, and heat are on the low end of the scale.