June 3

This evening, Mrs. Mallard sat next to the bird bath on the patio for a while then purposefully waddled into our neighbors' backyard. I lost sight of her through the bushes and I wasn't about follow her around, so I still don't know where she is nesting. There was no sign of the drake. A naturalist from the local nature center told me that once the eggs are laid, the male ducks lose all interest in the reproductive process, so perhaps the egg-laying is finished. She also said that their diet is primarily insects, though birdseed and cracked corn won't hurt them. I managed to get a picture of the female before she coyly hid herself behind a big flower pot so that only her tail feathers were sticking out.
Lord B. and I went to the archery range after work, shot one round, then were chased away by a torrential downpour. On the way home, we stopped at the library so I could check out the DVDs of the first two Sharpe's episodes. Squee!
Edit: Actual headline seen in today's news--BP uses giant shears to cut pipe. Uh, maybe we should pool our resources and send them a giant roll of duct tape.