They are both due on the third of May. They both appear content in their confinement and are side by side to boot.

Wilma is a wood duck. This is her fourth clutch in the nest box on our pond. Previous years she has hatched 15 or 16 ducklings, perhaps with an overlay of another female because that seems too much for one small duck. This year she is sitting on twelve eggs. I have once seen another female in the nest box with her, but now Wilma is alone. A male wood duck comes and visits for a short while twice a day. Wilma does not like me checking on her, flying out in a sprint as I approach.

Cherise on the other hand seems to like my company. She is a Canada goose nesting on the ground, almost underneath Wilma’s nest box. Cherise started her laying on the upper pond and was in company with a male goose I call Doug. One day, early on, Doug was gone and a pile of down was left along side the pond. Cherise abandoned two eggs and moved down to the lower pond. One egg was broken, probably by a skunk, the other intact. I gingerly moved the abandoned egg and put it under Cherise’s second sitting next to two new eggs. Cherise is going to have a tough time parenting and protecting her goslings without a second goose to help. She looks up, but does not move, when another pair of geese fly over every morning.

I like to think that Cherise is one of Alice’s children. Alice and Billy raised five to six goslings on the upper pond every year for six years. In 2019, Alice was killed by a bobcat while sitting on four eggs. For the rest of the year, no geese came any where near the upper pond. How did they know it was unsafe?. The geese that fly over Cherise every morning, I call Ellen and Frank. They have scrapped a rough nest in the exact spot where Alice had her nest and exactly where Cherise started laying. Ellen has not yet laid any eggs and they stay at the pond for only a few hours a day. I think she is too young to yet be a parent, but is practicing.

In the next week, I expect both Wilma and Cherise to hatch their clutches. I will try very hard to witness it. They will immediately take their families to another location, away from the birth site, which all predators know about. I will have to be vigilant to catch the birthing.

Man root on right, man on left. Found excavated by construction activity, took home to nurture, fed tea, then planted in native garden.

*2021 Update: the transplant didn't take and this sweet soul was lost to the world, buried dead as it had been buried alive.

Ring found in long eared owl pellet, reported and saw that it was a blackcap tagged in Hiddensee, Germany as a juvenile in 04/2020. -
Corrected! Got a response back after a while and apparently it was ringed as an adult black redstart, not a blackcap. Mixup in the station's website.

I found this snake back in 2008. If I only knew then how awesome this find was. My memory of location was foggy but I think I have it narrowed down pretty good. I am 100% certain of location within 15 miles or so and 75% to location within a mile or so.

Update:
I found several of these at Cedar Bog again this year. The last one might be Hexatoma brevicornis, so if you have expertise, please D.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172420801
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172420799
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172420798
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/175243975

Note: I have photographed this Hexatomini at Cedar Bog in Champaign County, Ohio for at least 17 years. Always in the same area.
I've added two other observations; one from back in 2004.
Links to those observations:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88273567
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/84762884
Here's an observation this year (2022) with better pics of wing venation. Same location.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124010854

Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...

in the absence of a trunk or stone to lean on, a capybara may be an option;
I have observed these two individuals do this twice;

see also
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/nelson_wisnik/21258-the-friendly-capybara

A green chiton attached to a half crab. We observed this alien looking commensal beast while undertaking an intertidal survey on the reefs off Hawera. It made us jump when we first turned over the rock.

"The Art of Mother Nature".

These images represent the brief but beautiful display we get on the first hard freeze of a winter--if we get such a morning at all at our latitude. We've had a few cold mornings just below freezing in Austin over the past few weeks, but this Arctic blast was enough to keep the temperature in the teens and 20's for several hours. The result for Frostweed is frozen sap which splits the base of the stem and comes curling out in fantasticly beautiful "shaved ice" forms. Botanical icicles. The shapes are as diverse as snowflakes.

While doing homework on a bench, this chipmunk jumped on to see what I was doing. I let her take a look but she only got to the search bar and gave up. So I put on some of my chipmunk pictures for her to see. Posed for observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/129984459

This ferret popped out of a hole that the prairie dog seemed to be trying to cover up. The two animals seemed to be aware of each other, but they did not interact. Eventually the prairie dog wandered off.

Viewed from the basement window. Deerald seems to have decided this was a great place to snooze overnight. It couldn't see me, so I managed to get a few great shots of just how much I need to wash these windows.

I was very surprised to see a black colored White-tailed Deer fawn this evening behind my house. I have seen some very dark White-tailed Deer in this area in the past:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/816864
but not one like this. These are just quick shots, taken against the light and as the deer were rapidly moving away, but this black fawn can be seen in company with normally colored fawns. I will be trying to get more and better shots in the next few days.

Had a cool split at the end of its tail. Was a brave little guy too. 2nd picture of face was after it scurried off and then climbed back up out of hiding almost on to my foot. Saw at least 3 others that day (no pictures) with the blue tail.

Found this lil one which I have never seen a color morph like this for a Mud snake. I determined it to be one based off the visual/physical features such as the “tail spine”, pattern, head/eye shape, as well as a divided anal plate.