Meanwhile, on my section of the Hudson, things are hopping. Five Brant geese, the first I've seen this year, nibbling on the pilings' remaining barnacles. Two pairs of buffleheads diving deep, bobbing up. A pair of Gadwalls, a pair of mallards. Yesterday, a lone male Gadwall, swimming north, was about to enter the piling field when he suddenly swung west, swam parallel to it. I didn't know what his problem was until two male mallards rose up from the other side, flew across and landed in the water on his flanks. They didn't attack him -- unlike the moorhen battle I saw in FL, three male moorhens wildly going at it -- but, like bombers in restricted airspace, they escorted his feathered ass right out of there. Seems to me all this action is in aid of either snapping up nesting sites (Gadwalls and mallards) or fueling up for the trip north (Brants and buffleheads). Wonder if these are the Gadwalls who nested in the tall grass right by the path last year, and if they'll do it again?