A wood duck, painted in watercolor, wades in a shallow puddle where grass pokes through the water’s surface. A paper filled with color swatches accompanies the painting.
Blades of grass poke through the surface of water that pooled on the ground after a rain. Mallards wade in it. A closer look reveals wood ducks to be there as well. An even closer look reveals snipes standing still in the water’s outskirts where the ground is muddy.
Puddles temporarily extend habitats, making spots of land valuable to certain wildlife who most likely would have shown little interest in the areas prior to water being there. Teals might look out of place in a field, but they will reroute their flight and land in a pocket of water in a field that caught their eye from overhead.
As the ground holds water here and there during rainy days, I keep my eyes peeled for birds that these areas lure. Something that appears to be as simple as a puddle can turn out to be an interesting habitat worthy of pause and study.