Circle of Life

The Mallard ducklings followed closely behind their mother as they skirted the edge of the stormwater retention pond next to the building. The pond and lack of parking were key environmental features at Coast Guard Headquarters. She was mostly a muted brown with just a dash of vibrant color showing the species relationship to her brightly colored male mate paddling nearby. The duckling’s proximity to the female and the evolved color scheme of the adults was important because the woods and rivers nearby were home to many predators.

Suddenly a large Canadian Goose hiding in the reeds hissed and lashed out at the mallard family. Her own goslings were nearby, and a circling Cooper’s Hawk had put her on edge. In the flurry of flaps and feathers one Mallard duckling was injured and floated away lifelessly. As the adults corralled their respective families, the hawk, drawn to the commotion and possibly taking advantage of it, snatched up a gosling. The hawk flew over to the walkway railing to rip it apart in plain view of a few traumatized cubicle dwellers sitting just inside the windows.

Within minutes a Bald Eagle landed next to the hawk. It was probably one of the mated pair from the nearby fire academy that had a live stream camera pointed at their nest. The hawk did the survival math and flew off without its feast as the eagle, ever the elegant looking scavenger, picked it up and flew off. Just as the it approached the river, the eagle’s steady flightline became erratic as it dodged an oncoming Osprey.

Ospreys are one of the Bald Eagle only natural predators and the two species often compete around herring-rich rivers such as the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers. But this wasn’t an avian Osprey, it was a massive Tilt-Rotor Marine Corp Aircraft taking off out of the nearby military base. The eagle never had a chance as it got caught in the downdraft and disintegrated. The copilot’s systems check confirmed no issues due to the collision, so the pilot, a Captain Mallard, proceeded on with only a slight smirk on his face.~

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I have been toying with short fiction and some basical dialog lately as part of a larger project. I figured I'm post them here for posterity and the occasional bot to read.

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