Optimism??

It is amazing how we ignore/don't see mess until the photos show us in all its hideous glory. Hubby finally cleared an area by the garage that was piled up 'with cr*p', his I might add not mine.

perhaps the puddle was just that little bit warmer.

Lots of snow melt and rain here, suddenly summer.
Had a pair of mallards checking out my pond/swamp/stream area but the water is running too high and cold and the hawks are back. Perhaps I'll never have the ducks and wild geese I'm longing for.
Have always justified my "cr*p" by saying it's supplies for the next project..or work in progress...lol. Maybe the Mallard is telling you he's a puddle-duck...related to Jemima!

It is a very brave and tame duck !

Isn't it odd how birds seem to prefer dirty puddles to a clean bowl of water. Be a bit small for a mallard, of course.

We are hoping to do something about our glory-holes but it's a long process.

I agree Seaburn how vision is impaired when it comes to things stood about, just like how tidy the house is when you know visitors are arriving! Or perhaps that's just me.

Thanks Lori, love your idea of him being a Puddleduck, perhaps he's the country cousin of Jemima. To think these are wild ducks it's amazing how fast they latch onto to fact there is nothing here to harm them and a free source of food in the barn! I hope your ducks and geese arrive and stay when it's a bit warmer. As for junk and cr*p about, in the countryside there's always something to mend and it's the bits that get thrown out that are the next needed, they just need to be further out of sight!

He has got so tame Dianne, I think it's because his parents (we assume) are off on their own a lot and he's like a spoilt child looking for attention and is lonely. Or perhaps I am just putting on a wild bird too human feelings. Probably just that we have no dogs, cats or small children and it's quiet here with plenty of food! Cupboard love as they say.

You are right Eirlys about birds preferring grotty looking water to the fresh stuff sometimes, perhaps there's more minerals or something in it. I know Boris and his girls prefer dibbling in ruts with water in than his bucket of fresh water. As for the long process of tidying up Glory-holes, we have a shed in the process of falling apart and all that 'useful' stuff has to be sorted and binned or stored. Now, that random bucket of assorted screws and nails - is it ever likely that anyone will stand and sort through it looking for the right one, but can I bring myself to just throw it out?

It's the mucky water that has the live aquatic life in it, I used to gather this & hunt out bloodworm from the silt in my fish breeding days.

Lately we've had wonderful weather for ducks !

Not sure there's much living in a shallow puddle Greenfingers, I can understand a stagnant bucket of water having larvae in it - but my drive!!

As for the wonderful weather for ducks Terratoonie, we had a lot and I had to empty the tanks several times into the pond, but yesterday was forecast rain all day and we didn't see a drop, so it bypassed us!

Very true, Honeysuckle, maybe they just prefer rainwater. My dogs have also always preferred puddles despite putting fresh water out.