Ducks Against the Current

I found an idyllic spot a little way up Snake Canyon today. It was high above the Snake River and Jazzy and sat and basked in the beautiful, fresh morning air for quite a time. The river narrowed in front of us, swelling through a rocky outcrop and then smoothing out into the distant mountains. It was so pretty, and I got some great shots.

Then just as we were about to leave, I spotted something moving way down against the far side of the river wall. It was a mother duck and her chicks swimming upstream as hard as they could. They kept close against the rock wall and then when the water cascaded over the rocks in front of them they all zipped out of the water and over the dry rocks, back into the water on the other side. The little ones seemed to just skim across the surface.

They were so cute and so determined; I admired their courage enormously. The current they were swimming against was really strong. Even with my telephoto lens they were tiny, but here they are anyway