Spring Lake Residents Sustain and Maintain the Community They Love

Spring Lake

  

By Denise Windley

Ron (left) and Chris (right) Hughes toss bread crumbs to the arriving ducks and geese.  Photos by Denise Windley (see more at Virtual Vaksen)

Dust kicks up along the dirt road west of Spring Lake.  Birds take flight, some waddle, others swim toward their familiar bankside gathering spot.  They can hear the sound of the old gray truck and its occupants headed their way.  It’s Ron and Chris Hughes, a couple whom they have come to know and trust.  Most of all, their arrival means it’s time to eat.

Several days a week, the Hughes supply feed that helps to sustain the countless ducks, geese, and various other bird species at Spring Lake.  It is a ritual of stewardship the husband and wife have taken on themselves, an act of love and concern for the lake and the birds who reside there, one which performed out of their own volition.

Moving to the small community from the “hustle and bustle” of Provo twenty-seven years ago, the Hughes came to enjoy the presence of the countless feathered creatures that have nested and rested at Spring Lake for generations.  The couple took a more concerted effort toward ensuring their survival five years ago after rescuing one of the lake’s wounded inhabitants.

Driving along the old highway that connects the small community with Payson and Santaquin, the couple found a duck on the side of the road that had been shot with a blow dart gun.  Still alive, the Hughes transported the domestic fowl to Payson Family Pet Hospital for rehabilitation.  When the vet told them the duck would survive the injury, but was emaciated due to lack of food, the Hughes realized that hunger was a problem for many other birds at the lake.  They set out to change this.

Ron had a coop of chickens at home at the time and soon their grain was shared with the hungry flocks at the lake.  The sharing became a regular routine.  “There’s no point in letting them starve,” Chris said.

“We do what we can for them,” Ron added.

“He’s a softy,” remarked Chris.  Turning a blind eye to the plight of animals is not in her husband’s nature. Nor her own.  Stray cats and dogs, including a fluffy Terrier mix they named Maggie who was on her last leg--discounted to $5 at a pet store--when they bought her, have taken refuge at the Hughes’ home.

At the lake, connections have been forged between the caretakers and fowls residing there permanently as well as those making stopovers while migrating south for the winter.  When the couple drove toward the lake bank last week, Ron called out to the stout geese, colorful mallard and pale ducks- all the peaceful feathered creatures arriving to greet them.  He even referred to a few by name.

“Come on, Pee Wee!” he said, encouraging the meekest of the bunch, a tiny duck paddling excitedly to the shore to join the multitudes that had arrived first. Then there is “My Little Ducky Friend.”  And “Cripple Coot,” whose name serves as an explanation as to why he stuck around after his migratory mud hen (American coot) flock flew south to warmer grounds.   

Then the Hughes began their work, setting out blue plastic bins with chicken feed and tossing bread cut into bite size pieces toward the approaching birds.  Feeding occurs more frequently in the winter months, according to Chris, when the migratory birds add to the hungry population. This last winter was a particularly harsh one, she added, and there were at least three hundred extra birds joining the seventy who reside at the lake year round.  Feeding became a daily routine.

When the excitement fades after each meal and it’s clear the birds have had their fill, the Hughes return the plastic bread bags to their old gray truck. They are exchanged for fishnets, rubber gloves, and small garbage sacks, and the final task at hand: Picking up garbage blown in by wind gusts and left behind by visitors at the public park.  

“See you on the other side,” Chris said to Ron last week as she headed counterclockwise from the bank.  Ron proceeded the other way.  

Springtime is the worst for trash, Chris says.  But on this spring day, the debris appears less prevalent.  Perhaps this is because of the frequency of the Hughes’ visits.  They maintain the grounds around Spring Lake several times a week, along with their caretaking for the birds.

The Hughes’ committed volunteerism runs in sync with contributions made by people like them. Recycling receptacles for monofilament fishing lines were installed by a Payson woman. Benches, picnic area, and other park improvements contributed by Boy Scouts and local residents are all signs there that people care about their community.

“We love it here,” Ron said.  Their actions show it.