Ducklings all in a row

For the first time this year I saw a mother duck and 9 ducklings out for a little exercise at the Sierra Point Marina. I had to stop and notice how they proceeded. The mother duck maintained her little brood quite well. There was one that was consistently off exploring the shoreline and the mother backpedaled a bit to keep her eye on it. I like to think his name was Michael. He really was curious about what was happening inside each little eddy at the shore. When the whole entourage reached the cement wall I was curious to see how the mother was going to bring her brood around. There were a few clucks, she turned and headed off toward the sailboats, and her brood followed close behind, two by two, with Michael bringing up the rear. I am going to have to keep close eyes on them and watch their progress. They are very young now. There is a red-tailed hawk that scouts this area frequently. He perches atop the parking lot lights. I don't think he is equipped to grab his food from the water, but the shore might be another story.

There was another oddity there today. In fact, the reason my eye was drawn to the ducks was the rock squirrel laying on the rocks. He was completely supine and quite relaxed. Those guys are usually quite active, but he was really chillin'. He did move himself down one level as I got a little too close. But I think he was interested in the progress of the ducklings, too.

As I was returning from my walk, a sailboat had motored into the area where they used to launch the liberty ships during WWII. I am not quite sure what the sailor was intending, but she turned around and motored out. You seldom see any boats down there, although there are sometimes kayakers who visit that inlet.

The birds have been calling and bulding their nests for awhile now, but this was the first sighting of new families being built in my neck of the woods. How about your neck of the woods?