Ice

Yesterday, as the temperature rose up to the freezing point, the bays between the piers at Brooklyn Bridge Park were filled with undulating pancake ice. These Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were putting their succulent layer of fat to good use.And, Dear Reader, a mystery. The gentleman cleaning the area said a woman had been sitting for a while with a bouquet. They don’t seem like memorial roses, do they, the kind you’d toss into the sea in remembrance? But then does anybody know the language of roses anymore? (Deep purple for Goth girls, I know that much.)Meanwhile, the bay between Piers 1 and 2 had very little ice in it and was calm, until a wake rippled waves through, the water rolling like silk. A male Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) was using the open water freely. The ice zooming up the East River with the tidal current.