There’s a slight breeze on this sunny spring day.
I was here a year ago, this week.
The city had conducted a controlled burn of the cattails. It was a black, charred mess, and there was a lingering smoky smell.
They haven’t done a burn this year.
Today, many of the golden stalks are matted down from being dried and broken, weighed down with snow for the past few months.
I hear a lot of birds in the trees; I don’t see much activity.
The water level is low. I see several mated pairs of mallards on the water.
the shining green of the mallard’s head in the sunshine
just days before spring
one fall leaf still on the tree —
a couple of crows
Greenlee Wildlife Preserve, Lafayette, Colorado