GROOT HOEFBLAD

in dutch or Common Butterbur in english.
The weather looked sombre this morning, but nevertheless I cycled southwards, through the Madestein park, the Uithof (where the storknest is) till Wateringen.
In the Madestein pond I saw for the first time a grebe male chasing another and to my utter surprise they fought under water, seeing at the surface the splashes and then nothing. I discovered the chased grebe on land, exhausted, but not wounded.
I could come close by and was to happy to see that after a while he jumped into the water, started running in another direction than where the grebe couple was and disappeared in the large reed aerea.
In the Uithof I saw my first baby ducks, a lot swimming in line behind mother. A heron nearby did them no harm.
The city farm in Wateringen was closed till one o'clock but in the canals there were many waterbirds and I stood there and watched their lively behaviour.
On my way back the form of the seedheads of the common butterbur amazed me and right there I almost knew immediately that I wanted them to be my blip.

My haiku:

The swan protective
For the eggs now laid later
He'll chase his children

And the proverb by Horace:

The more a man/woman denies him/herself, so much the more will he/she receive from the gods.

edit: I called them first flowers but as ceridwen rightly indicated it's their seed heads that you see in the picture.