Friday afternoon stroll in the park

I actually got out of the office by mid afternoon , so we headed over to the park in the hopes of seeing the mergansers again. But the river was too high and the current too fast for anything to be seen there. It was cold (again) and windy so the only birds seen and heard were some starlings and the ever-present local flock of geese. But a mile up the walk was a little stream heading towards the river and 4 mallards. Cornell's Merlin site describes mallards as "the quintessential duck". Common ,  a duck of rivers and lakes and parks, what people think of when someone says ... duck. Mr. Mallard was nearby all the time too as they paddled back and forth looking for food.