My post is for SMAP#124 contest, hosted by 
For this week's free theme, I found five photos I took in the spring at our local park. A huge pond in the center of the park serves as a shelter and a source of food for ducks and sea gulls. Walking along its shore, you can notice a lot of interesting things. By the end of April, ducks begin to court each other, pair up and purposefully explore the bushes in search of a suitable nesting site. These searches are very funny to watch, when you are in the know whats the agenda! And the males are not averse to fighting each other for the sake of the female.
There is one spot on the shore - an old willow, a huge sprawling tree that encloses a large room, makes it a convenient place for a nest - and also allows you to get a little closer, for observational purposes. It was possible to take pictures through the bare branches, while the willow did not turned completely green - then the nest turns out to be pretty invisible :) One cannot approach the nest very close, to a hand distance, - you can fall into the water.
In the fourth photo you see a nest built by American coot, with the author of the architectural work himself, sitting on the hatch.
By the way, American coots are very belligerent, brash, pugnacious - I don't know what word to use better here. They challenge and drive Mallard ducks out of their foraging territory or simply if they don't like something. I have witnessed a dozen times how one Coot disperses a small flock of Mallard ducks! Spectacle...
