Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Coffee Time #62.
Good morning everyone! It’s a beautiful, sunny and mild morning here at Steve’s Country today. Mild for us at least, with a temp of 10F (-12C). The coffee is ready too, so just help yourself and relax with us for a few minutes. Yesterday was just amazing, the sun was shining brightly, the temp hit a wonderful 43F (6C) and there was a very strong west wind. Having that wind with a temp like that really cuts the snow down fast. I went for a walk to the river yesterday afternoon and the change in snow depth was very noticeable. Before the snow was anywhere from 16 to 23 inches (40 to 57cm) deep. Yesterday those same areas where I measured were 8 to 13 inches (20 to 33cm) deep, about half what it was before, and it still did a fair bit of melting after I measured.
Many places there was ground showing once more, especially down close to the river. Sitting on the bench was really very nice, even with the strong wind blowing across that cold water. Large pieces of ice were floating down the river, going against that strong wind and moving fast, showing just how strong that current is in the river. There was even a small stick floating along that normally would be blown around by the wind, but it was moving quickly against the wind as well. It was very beautiful along the river yesterday. There were two fairly large flocks of ducks, one had about 50 birds, the other was maybe a bit smaller at 40 birds. There was also a couple of eagles flying around the whole time I was there. One flock of ducks decided to fly off to another part of the river, I think the eagles made them nervous.
But one lone male goldeneye decided to stay behind. I guess the fishing was good and he didn’t want to leave. One of those eagles decided to come too close to that duck so he dove underwater for safety. But the eagle kept flying around about 10 feet above the water. Finally the duck had to come up for air and the eagle fell to the water coming up with the duck in his sharp talons. He first carried it over to the ice and then onto the rock by the shore, but then flew off with his meal over the trees somewhere. Goldeneye ducks make up part of the eagles winter food supply. They will also eat fish a lot and any dead animals they can find. However, they can go for days after a good meal before they need to eat again, otherwise we wouldn’t have any ducks left by spring. More warm spring like days are coming this week, have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Altho’ I like winter it is still nice to see sparse snow…thanks for the coffee ! The poor duck ! Trying to evade the enemy , but failing to do so ! Glad you were able to go for your walk to the river…have a good day ! ☕️☕️🙂☕️☕️😻
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so close…😂 I wasnt first 😁 you are…
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Yes, it is nice to see the snow disappearing and the freshness of spring moving in to replace it. Yep, that duck should have stayed with the flock, better safety that way. It was a beautiful walk though! Have a nice day Sharon!😀😺☕☕🌞
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You could have saved the duck 🙄😜😜 instead you shot the pic 😂 no we cannot interrupt nature😁 I knew it. now, the temperature seems to be rising, you are getting close the spring, it sure is an early spring it seems. Uncle Steve, by the way, did you get my email ? I posted here on blogosphere too 😁. You can watch the video or photos here. Have a wonderful day Steve 🥰🤗 and am I first again 🥳yay!!!!
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Sorry Simon, but you are second!😁 No, I couldn’t have saved the duck, they were on the other side of the river.🙄 I really didn’t think the eagle would get the duck. I actually think he didn’t see the eagle,🤔 he was too busy with his fishing. Nature is beautiful but also ugly at times too. It’s a beautiful, sunny day but cooler today.😀😺☕☕🌞📷
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yes I knew it, after my comments appeared two mins 😂😂 Nature have is own beauty. I have so many stories pending to read 🙄😳you have written a lot 😜😂 I’ll start from today though 🥰
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I haven’t written very much, just looks that way. Everything is short though, except my story.😁🙄🤭
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Yes, short though, but I feel like reading a book. You know how I read like a snail and still miss the details 😂😂😂. Eewww snails… why I get that to compare… gosh..😳🙄🧐😂😂 crazy imagination..
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That’s a good point,🤔 why do we use snails as a comparison,🙄 everyone does. But snails don’t even read!😂😂😹😹
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snails don’t read 🤔 yes they don’t they just move around 😂😂 you discovered that now 🧐 how ? I ve grown up believing snails can read 😜
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Yep, I found out they can’t read because I put up a sign by my garden years ago, saying “no snails allowed”, but it didn’t work.😂😂😹😹🤣🤣🙄
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you have tried that already 😂😂see thats why you are a legend😂😂 I should try with my cats and street dogs with a sign No playing with my dustbins… 😁
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Maybe you put interesting stuff in those dustbins?🤔😂😂But a sign might be worth a try.🙄
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🤔yes I should try that sign, then out something else on dustbin 😂 maybe my shoe 😂😂
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Does your shoe smell that bad that it would keep them away?😬 Maybe I should try that to keep the raccoons away.🤔😳😂
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My shoes smell more deadly 😂😂 I have sweaty palms and sweaty feet which makes my shoes kind of smell bad, especially with these leather shoes it stinks 😸 so I always apply oil and moisturizer before I wear shoe to avoid stinking ☺️
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Hmm, I should try that, maybe Muffin won’t faint so much when she smells my shoes.😂😂🙀🙀
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maybe she got used to it already 🤔 or maybe that’s why she sleeps so much 😂😂
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I think that’s why she staggers around the room so much!😂😂🙀🙀
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🤣😂🤣
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Great pictures As to an earlier comment. Nature is never ugly nature is. It acts the way it is supposed to. That is all
Laughter is contagious. Start a pandemic
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Thanks Mr. Ohh! That’s true about nature, not everyone looks at it that way and it seems not many people liked that one picture. Hope you have ‘a smile as wide as a country sunrise’!
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that must have been quite a sight to see with the eagle and the duck; survival of the fittest I guess…
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Yes, it was quite amazing and I did get some good pics. But I was hoping the duck would get away. It is part of nature though.
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I was rooting for the duck also…
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I’m sure the duck must not have seen the eagle. I have seen the ducks come to the surface and take off so fast easily getting away from eagles before. An eagle can’t pick up speed that fast, but those ducks sure can.
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so it sounds like what you saw was a relatively rare event!
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It would be really, especially since these ducks are seldom by themselves. Usually they are in a flock of several birds and there is nearly always one on the surface watching for danger while the others dive. And if an eagle shows up, they fly away quickly, and they are amazingly fast flying ducks. But they do fall prey to eagles at times during the winter, though not often as their numbers certainly don’t change much.
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thanks for the insight…
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You’re welcome.
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