After mating quickly, Eastern Pondhawks separate -- the male to a nearby perch from which he watches for intruding males, the female to a resting place -- but again, quickly. Then just as quickly, she takes off, he trailing; she oviposits, he guards, their flying and her dipping so fast it's a blur beyond my eyes' and camera's skills.
II
From a distance, the metal beach bridge blends into the bushes beyond and the water before it, the encroaching lilies catching a little light. Where one was this last spring, now scads of the plants crowd the shoreline and water, dotting the surface and piercing the bottom, quick and fertile like the Pondhawks.
III
Though not so pretty. I worry. What does their fecundity bode for the future?
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