Natural camouflage is incredible. This duck hen has chosen an ideal spot to nest. Even though I was pretty sure it was there, I was within several inches of it multiple times over the course of a week or so without ever seeing it. It wasn't until I quite by chance happened to see her leave it to get water that I pinpointed its location. Now I am looking forward to seeing her ducklings in a few weeks, but in the meantime, she is as well protected as she could possibly be.
It is a rare thing in this area to have such an old gravestone be so unweathered and clear, especially in a cemetery right off Lake Michigan where the windblown sand tends to wear away stone fairly quickly. But at some point in the last 150 years or so a tree sprouted and grew right on top of this grave, serving as a shield from the elements and protecting the inscription from erosion. Nothing is permanent of course, and in time the tree will fall and the stone will erode away to its component minerals. For now however, the memorial of Salmon Satterlee, born 1792, remains virtually as strong as the day it was put up in 1871.
