Fauna & Flora, From the Edge of the Lake

A pair of cormorants kept surprising me!  These diving ducks would plunge below the water, only to pop up in a completely different direction.  They swim a great distance with such great speed!  And they fly just as quickly!

A small flock of mallards circled the lake, their wings whistling as they approached.

A Great Blue Heron landed high on a branch and scoped things out from that vantage point before flying back down to the water's edge at a nearby cove.

Still looking upward, I noticed this Pileated Woodpecker.  While it remained above, flitting from tree to tree, it's mate was foraging among the dead trees that lay on the ground.

You know it's spring, when you see birds in pairs, like these chickadees and warblers.

This Northern Flicker didn't flinch as I caught him in my lens.  His mate, however, flew quickly away.

Other wildlife, flora--like new buds emerging through brown remnants leftover from winter, and fresh, green moss--delighted me.

From 'wildlife' to 'still life'.