There was a strong, warm wind from the south-west all day today, and the temperature soared to 18C! Migrating ducks took advantage of the wind and flew north, some landing on my pond to rest and refuel. This afternoon I counted 7 male ring-necked ducks with 4 females, 4 pairs of common mergansers, and 3 pairs of mallards. The ring-necks and mergansers were busy diving for fish, while the mallards just paddled around and quacked a lot. I had a look around the garden, as most the flowerbeds are now bare of snow, but I did not see any bulbs coming up yet. They probably know there's more snow in the forecast. Nice pic of the snowed-on iris, Treehugger!
