Pond Prowling on an early summer's morning

 Neighbor Carla and I did a bit of pond prowling today. We were lucky to see some wildlife due to getting out on the pond early (by 6:45 am.)  

We saw lots of white pine trees with female pine cones hanging from the ends of the branches.  The pine cones are still immature and you can see bits of sap "sparkling" in the sunlight.

After investigating the pine trees, we spied mallards feeding at the north end of the pond.

They were so funny as they bobbed upside down searching for pond plants to feed on.

Then, we paddled into the boggier part of the pond and parked the boat in front of the little islands that support the old larch trees. We were in luck as we had hoped to find cedar waxwings here.

These trees provide good perches for the cedar waxwings as they survey their surroundings.

I love the waxwings and cheer them on as they feed on flying insects in the air over the pond. 

As we were watching the waxwings, we heard geese in the distance. The geese practically flew overhead. Their formation changed several times as they headed northward.

Drawing our eyes back to the pond surface, we found that we were surrounded by the purple flowers of pickerel weed, which attracted bumble bees. There was lots of buzzing all around us.

Finally, we paddled toward the south side of the pond in search of painted turtles, many of whom were sunning themselves on various logs.

It was getting too hot for us, but the turtles were lovin' it! All in all, we had a great pond prowl, and were out for a solid 3 hours!