By Marcy Axness, TME

As a verdant water habitat like the Gorman Post Road sag pond begins to dry up, it becomes a race against time for young water fowl. As ecological biologist and Pine Mountain community resident Lynn Stafford explained, “They need to be able to fly before the pond dries up to the point it…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Left: The water level in the Gorman Post Road sag pond (left) has been receding, leaving water fowl like this young coot (center) and mallard (right) in the shallows. To the east from the pond (above), a predatory hawk circles high above, then perches, watching for lunch.

Meanwhile, just south at Quail Lake, a female house finch picks her landing spot carefully.

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This is part of the August 14, 2020 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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