The Quack(ers) are back.

Today was a wet one and just made for ducks. Back when the University of Oregon was in the football hunt, mid '90's, their motto was The Quack is Back, thus a stretch on the lead for this entry. (Bill has the correct UO slogan. He was almost laughing with tears at what I wrote, since he figures that'd be a very benign threat--it was The Quack Attack is Back.)About 3 this afternoon I heard lots of noise outside. As I opened the back door, it appeared the field was once again alive, just like last year. I ran in to get my camera. Of course, I had to switch lenses and even with all the falter all, I made it back out to capture these events. In the first pic, they were right out behind our fence, thick as thieves. Then all of a sudden the entire flock (is that what you call a bunch of ducks?) lifted into the air. I finally caught sight of an eagle coming from behind the old barn, flying from north to south. Pretty soon there was another one, but in my excitement and the pouring rain, this was the best shot of the four pix. There were hundreds of ducks flying this way and that way. I found it amazing that there weren't any visible collisions. I think these were Golden Eagles, but like I write, it was raining like crazy and I was in a bit of a hurry.


After flying around long enough for the eagles to leave the area, the ducks landed just in a field south of where they were. The standing water was all a roil as they landed. The six in the overhead picture came right up and over the deck.

About the time I was ready to head in to dry off and warm up, three swans came into view. Again, the beauty of the farm and being able to view nature from our deck is just awesome.