Just a quick post….BREAKING NEWS!!
Previously, I wrote about our resident wild duck, Gloria, on our pond, on Gloria’s Pond.
GLORIA!!! Our little wild duck that migrates back to the pond every spring!!
She comes home to the pond every year ushering in the start of spring. Gloria has lived half the year at the pond since we have been part of this property…8 years now (I know, we just officially moved here 2.5 years ago…long story….we had been visiting the property for 6 years prior.) This beautiful duck has hatched a few clutches of eggs over the years, sadly, none have grown to maturity. There are predators on this land, including this big guy…and he routinely visits the pond.
Beautiful yet dangerous to frogs and baby ducklings.
I have often wondered where Gloria goes in the winter-time. Our family likes to think that maybe she flies south to the Bay Area, landing in a park that we frequented on the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay…along with dozens if not hundreds of Canadian Geese. I wonder why Gloria is such a solitary duck, most years spending the spring and summer by herself. I wonder what kind of duck Gloria is, actually, although I think she is a type of Mallard. I wonder if Gloria is a Gloria….or a Gordon?…she is actually kind of dark and green for a Gloria. (She will always be Gloria…no matter.) I wonder why Gloria came back to the pond when there seemed to be so much cold and rain still ahead of us (if she migrates to – from CA she may have been misguided by their drought this year.) I wonder why Gloria died yesterday? 😦
Walking up from the mailbox, I found our little wild friend lying motionless in the seasonal stream that is fed by the runoff of the pond.
A very sad sight!
I didn’t know what happened…I still don’t know what happened. I put on some gloves and checked her over; there were no wounds that I could see. Her eyes were still clear, so if Bear Grylls is right, she had only died an hour or two before I found her. I did, however, find out something really incredible….Gloria was insanely beautiful!!
She was marked so beautifully.
The emerald green of our Gloria.
Maybe the days of continuous rain was too much? Maybe the lack of natural cover due to the delayed blooming of spring caused too much exposure on an old duck? Maybe both of those things, combined with morning temps dropping into the low 30’s weakened our old girl to a point she couldn’t recover? I don’t know…but I miss our little wild friend.
Gloria’s final resting place under her favorite tree, next to her pond.
I’m NOT liking this…I’m not liking this at all!!
Build Me a Dream 
Comments on: "Gloria’s Pond" (2)
Hey Sis
That is Sad, This wild duck had a family and maybe didn’t really know that. But I bet she felt your love. Maybe she was sick and came back to HER pond for her final days.
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Peace be to Gloria ~ I know you will miss her sweet presence and how dear that she’s resting under her tree and near her pond. Sometimes Nature can make us sad and weary. Thank you for respecting all creatures great and small. xoxoxox
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