Mutual of Omaha presents

(Okay, some of you are probably too young to get that joke, but I know my sister does!)

Wildlife spotted this evening along Meadowbrook Creek as it meanders near Barry Park--an area picturesquely known as the "Meadowbrook Detention Basin":

• two goldfinches--the first I've seen this year (in fact, it took me a couple of minutes to remember what the heck they're called!)
• countless redwinged blackbirds hollering at each other ("skrEEEE--stay away from my area!")
• one mallard, hanging in the middle of a small pond, either protecting a nearby nesting female or pretending to be protecting a nearby female in order to save face...er...bill...
• robins--lots, though not as copious as blackbirds
• starlings--ditto
• European sparrows, who somehow have not mastered the art of gripping tall grasses like the blackbirds, who seem to be twice their size
• a pair of Canada geese
• four koi, or else just really big goldfish gone wild (I was going to say they didn't belong, but then, neither do I, or the starlings, or the sparrows, or even the mallards, for that matter)

(And for you Wild Kingdom fans, no, I did not clamber into the middle of the marsh with a net to capture an unsuspecting bird and relocate it. Though there was a sweet little plover there last week, all by itself, and I wonder if maybe it could have used a little guidance.)