It’s currently snowing; some snowy duck and chicken pictures towards the end of this post. Plus some pictures of the ducks using the new island, which makes me happy.
But first, a funny picture of a stretching chicken; such a long neck!
The ducks in the pond:
On the edge of the pond:
To see the new island, I moved the second camera to further back:
This is just a temporary placement, to check that the location works; at some point I’ll mount it more permanently:
The view from that camera, showing the first duck to go onto the island:
Several ducks on the island:
Chickens in the veggie garden:
Chickens with leafy treats:
In a nesting box:
Coming into the coop to get mealworm treats:
Ducks on the lawn:
Sleeping ducks:
When approaching the pond, I noticed some ducks on the island; my first non-cam photo of them using it:
Of course, as I got closer, most left it and swum towards me (swum/swam… grammar is hard):
Just Bert left on the island:
It snowed overnight. Here are some ducks on the island, and the older upturned pot islands, with snowy banks:
Ducks going after leafy treats while it snows; they don’t care about the snow:
Yes, the pond hasn’t frozen yet. It takes a while for it to cool down enough, but considering the high temperature today is about freezing level, I expect it to start to freeze in the next day or two.
Here are some ducks sleeping on the ledge at the edge, and some on the island:
Ducks are very cold-hardy, but it’s probably warmer in the water than on land right now.
The chickens aren’t such fans of the snow. They came out to get their treats this morning:
Then headed inside:
It looks like the island is a hit! Was the pond there when you bought the property? I only started reading your blog when the feral cats were kittens. What was on the property in the way of buildings and animals when you purchased it?
Yes, the pond was here when we bought the place. It was added a number of years beforehand, as was a bunch of landscaping. The old chicken coop was here too, but no animals.