Alfred's baaack! In mid-October he somehow got his beak trapped in a plastic cup or container some careless idiot had tossed into the lake. Someone in the neighborhood saw Alfred struggling to get the thing off, and contacted the appropriate wildlife rescue people. I was told they did come and save him. However, after that we didn't see him around the lake at all and I was hoping that the wildlife rescue people had taken him to a safe place where he could recover and that he would be OK. I missed him....
Yesterday I had the best Christmas gift ever -- I looked out the window and to my startled eyes Alfred was there,
standing on the ice in the lake! I immediately grabbed the camera and rushed out to the deck to say hello and to
commune with him. Alfred is
home!
Stepping cautiously in the cold water with a layer of very slippery ice underneath, Alfred gazes around his familiar territory: