Nature's Blessings and Miracles

I don’t know how many of you remember my story last May about the little mallard hen who built her nest in one of the flower beds in our front yard. If you didn’t see it, you might want to read it before you finish reading this post. You can click on the following links … 

[Part1]   http://southernlagniappe.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-blessing-at-our-door-step.html

[Part 2]    https://southernlagniappe.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-blessing-at-our-door-step-part-two.html

Here are a few pictures I captured of the hen and her babies last Spring (there were nine!). 

Just minutes after they all hatched, she marched them down the driveway and down the street to the neighborhood storm drainage pond, which was to be their new home until they could fly. 

We were so happy to have received one of Spring’s greatest blessings – new life – in the form of a little mallard hen who chose, literally, our front door step as the place to build her nest and bring her babies into the world. 

I had read that if the abandoned nest is near the feeding area, the family may continue to use it for brooding and nesting. I really didn’t think we would be so fortunate ... but early this morning my husband was looking out the window and called me to come quickly. When I looked out the window, I couldn’t believe my eyes – there in our driveway sat the mallard drake “standing guard,” while the hen was checking out the flower beds looking for her nesting place from last spring! They were so precious, I almost cried. 

It didn’t take her but a few minutes to locate her nesting place, and I really felt as if we were witnessing a miracle. To think that that little mama duck could return to the exact spot where she raised her babies last spring, and the daddy duck stood watch over her … well, it was just too much to comprehend! 

I was so excited, but managed to hurriedly get a couple of pictures of them with my cell phone ...

My husband had to leave and the ducks flew when he backed out of the garage, but I have high hopes of witnessing the miracle of new life again this Spring, when that little mama duck returns to her nesting place and gives us the pleasure of watching her raise her new family. To be continued … I hope!

Cats!

During my photo shoot ramblings, I have had the pleasure of visiting with a few cats who just happened to be close to whatever I was photographing. Some of them were shy and would run away, but others were curious and followed me around.

My favorite cat is this one who resides at the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg. He's a friendly little fellow and seemed to enjoy posing for my camera.

I came across this little cat napping in a flea market booth, and thought he was real until I got a little closer to him. I was amazed by how real he looked!

A couple of years ago, I did a post about The Gates of Vicksburg, and was shooting a picture of this gate at one of the cottages of Cedar Grove Mansion ...

There is an enclosed patio area below the gate and I interrupted these little guys sunning themselves.

During a "country roads" photo shoot, I discovered this little "peeping tom" watching me from the side of the road. He ran away when I tried to get closer.

On a photo shoot I did at the Jackson, Missisippi Zoo, I found some more cats, but they didn't follow me around, thank goodness.

As I was writing this post, it occurred to me that I haven't encountered many dogs during my travels. In fact, I can only think of one that was sitting in some tall grass beside an intersection of two country roads, and I quickly snapped his picture.

This has inspired me to add to my collection of cat pictures. They have such beautiful faces, and I would love to get some good closeup shots.