Duck lust on turtle pond: A (very) short story

So today I walked around the ramble a bit with a friend who is leaving town soon.  We went sort of randomly to turtle pond, and a pair of mallards were courting.

The female had already flattened out.

So he climbed aboard.

And gave her a peck on the neck.

And pushed her down.

The wind-up.

The strike.

And she's outta there!

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Off they go, a happy couple.

We saw another couple a bit later - a pair of house finches bathing in azalea pond.

Hey, where'd she go?

And this nuthatch was there too, keeping us and the finches company.