Indian paintbrush flowering from the back meadow

This weekend we found the rare and the less-than-rare flora in the neighborhood. The meadow down the railway trail has the colorful Indian paintbrushes blooming. Nearby in a clear -cut, a small crowd of five lady slippers discovered several weeks ago in pre-blossom mode have bloomed; the one shown here is representative. This discovery of five lady-slippers in one place is the most flowers of this type I have found in one place.

The northern shoveler mother duck I discovered nesting a month ago disappeared, leaving no trace of herself or any offspring. Her modest nest with a pile of small fuzzy feathers is all that remains. In a different part of our backwoods, we found this family, I think they are mallards, swimming in a vernal pool.

A female Northern Shoveler?