RIVER BIRDS Lesson #1

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." Genesis 2:15

The Number One life lesson I've learned in my 25 years here can be summed up in the above verse. All things, birds, the water and it's creatures therein, plus trees and bushes do and need to work together for the good, of all creatures along a river, including human beings. But that's a topic for another page.

Until observing the full truth of the Scripture above being played out here, part of it was an easy-to-memorize phrase I'd glibly recite to myself or someone else when feeling impatient or disappointed. But in it's totality it's a very accurate verse describing how perfectly created environments to work together keeping all creatures thriving bountifully within. Below is a prime example of how both a predator and prey live successfully here- thanks to the additions of God's creation of various trees and bushes which help sustain both along the river's shore.

Case in point: the synergistic relationship between teeny tiny Wood Duck ducklings and what is often considered an invasive problem, a clump of Buckthorn bushes in one corner of the yard. While they may be a problem, our controlled clump with its branches arching out and over the shallow water our shoreline provide an ideal covering for a few families of mommas and new ducklings. Their dense branches offer protection for the wee ones both visually and physically. Perhaps there are other over-hanging shoreline bushes that would work just as well, but when we moved in, this nice clump was here and it hasn't grown any faster or more aggressively than anything else. Why is protection from above or initially staying in shallow water so essential? Read on.

When a Wood Ducks begin to hatch, the mother Wood Duck goes down to the river below in most instances, or land below if up in a tree near the water, and makes an unmistakable call up to the ducklings. One at a time, they climb out of the nest and up to the exit hole then... jump! They're so lightweight they float down looking like feathers with two feet sticking out. The mother stays there calling up to the nest until all her ducklings join her below. Once the duckling is in water you can really see how very tiny they are. And vulnerable.

Immediately momma starts to swim and they closely follow behind, usually in a line. After swimming for awhile, eating something off the river, she leads the new ducklings to a safer spot where she can finally relax as they all eat in safety. In general when real little, we don't see them out in deeper water for any long period of time because bass and carp will get them when so small. However, shallower water near shore without some kind of protection overhead isn't safe either. Many birds will make a snack out of them as well.

The Mallards, although hardier in appearance are in greater danger when ducklings are very young as well and will often be found hugging the shore near one of their safer spots as well. If you're friends with the mother Mallard before she hatched her eggs, she'll let watch them nearby. Not so with the Wood Ducks. Even if near or in one of her safer areas, if she sees a human approaching odds are she'll lead them further away.

Lesson: Good hiding spots close to shore are essential for survival. This is also the case with Mallards to a degree although Mallard ducklings seem to start out a little larger and grow remarkably fast. Which is good because in general, in the water anyway, Mallard ducklings are not as well behaved as Wood Duck ducklings. Although Mama Mallard will keep her eye peeled and sharply quack to warn them to a safety zones until her ducklings are of hardier size.

From what we've observed here, whether the safety area is an over-hanging bush where they can hide and be invisible from any threat above, or a structure such as a dock doesn't matter. But for some reason, they do seem to prefer an overhanging bush, perhaps because it offers over-arching coverage. The mortality rate of each of ducklings is very high, one statistic I read was 80%. These safety zones don't have to be all along the shoreline, just a reasonable amount where a momma can scurry her babies along to, and then from spot to spot. It's kind of like a child's game of hide and seek. The more "home" bases you have, the less likely one will be tagged out. Before too long, the ducklings to get large enough where bass are no longer the threat and it seems by that size, heron and such prefer getting fish and such rather than larger ducklings. But without these over-hanging "safety zones" it seems to me, based on years of observation, there would be even less ducklings, therefore less ducks.

In my seven plus decades on this planet, this lesson has been demonstrated along our midwestern river's shore over and over again. It has given me hope for we humans. If God cared enough about them to create this environment where seemingly diverse creatures can live amongst each other utilizing the natural resources He created for coverage of them at key times, even with their little bird brains, how much more has He created systems and elements for the creatures He made in His image? Us? But first, lets look at what happens when a momma duck fails at protecting a duckling with well-timed quacks.

One of the saddest sounds I've heard on the river is when a duckling gets lost from it's family. You can hear its peep-peeping echoing across the river. At first it was so sad, we would both wish we could find and save it. Then one day we saw a bunch of geese let a lost duckling hook up with them. (We've seen different types of ducks "adopt" other types of duck too, but it was easily observed with the geese and duckling.) We watched that duckling grow into a male Mallard. Most ducks and geese often swim together. As he grew, he was friends with both. So whether the duckling was originally lost due to not paying attention to where his family was swimming, or his mom was immature and couldn't keep accurate count of her babies, it's nice to think no lone duckling is left to swim by itself. On the river, all are wanted- by someone.

Isn't it impressive how God's planning things with seemingly unrelated elements all seem to work together, and live in (mostly) peace- if we humans blessed to live with them just pay attention to the most basic elements needed for them to be able to live in peace together. We are part of their inter-connectedness too. God gave Adam the assignment to work His garden, and I take that to mean be good stewards of the beauty He leaves for us to honor, too.

Note: There will be edits ahead. This is a "just sat down at the computer and began to write" exercise. while the hardest part of writing is still ahead - editing - sharing this part of the writing process with you so you jump in and try writing on something you care about too. It's a freeing and fun writing technique. I'll put fresh eyes tomorrow, hoping it will shrink a little. There's a special photo to locate and then share with you too. May God bless you a good rest this evening. Old Gardener.

RIVER BIRDS: Lesson #1