Down By The Riverside *

My system failed as I clicked to publish this blip but I'm sort of pleased as I had my swan as the main pic. Swans are beautiful, photogenic and easy to get a snap of, so not surprisingly, they're featured often. There are at least fifty pages of swans on this site and only a couple of pages of shovelers. I think mine is quite characterful. :) I've added my swan to extras.

I had a lovely walk in bright sunshine round Seventy Acres Lake and got very excited because I spotted what I thought was an otter, very near to where I had seen one sliding down the river bank a few years ago. A little grebe was spooked and flew up, squawking manically. I soon realised that the animal was a naughty mink, a first for me. (Extras) I got some lovely heron, muntjac and sunset pics too.

Today's poem is Ask Me by American William Stafford. https://poetrying.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/ask-me-william-stafford/
As a child he loved nature and a school trip spent camping on the banks of the Cimarron River made a great impression on him. I wonder if he saw busking swans like mine? I've checked and the area is definitely American mink country.

* A Satchmo classic.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNUF7QGJZwA