Erin - Nature in Your Neighborhood

Is this a thistle?

I went to a small park by my neighborhood where there is a Native Pollinator Garden. Unfortunately, it looked as though there were not any, the park mostly had various different grasses and weeds. I was able to identify invasive blackberry and some invasive weeds. However, in my 3rd photo I was unable to identify what the plant was, but was wondering if it was a thistle. It seems like most of the species were introduced. There were mallard ducks in the pond, but I'm not sure what kind.

I was noticing that there was more nature on my walk to the park than I had previously expected. I was particularly interested by the moss that actually grows on the roof of the houses. It feels like most of the nature in my neighborhood is invasive. The general vibe of the area is that there was an attempt at restoring the ecology of the park but then it has been left untended, the bushes and the trees crowd ou the little houses, the moss covers roofs, weeds spring up between the cracks in the sidewalk. I’m immensely grateful for the nature in my neighborhood. I’ve always enjoyed being in nature that isn’t pruned or perfected but instead allowed to move freely. I enjoyed watching the lively way that the vines crawled up the rain gutter, and I realized the privilege of how alive my neighborhood is in its small pockets of wilderness. The house next door has bushes completely surrounding it you can barely see inside. The nature seems to be creating these little pockets of privacy in which it can thrive.

As I sat next to the pond and watched the ducks it was very peaceful to observe their behaviors. Most of my photos turned out blurry, but I spent a good amount of time just watching them. It was funny because half the pond had frozen over from the freeze two nights ago. I watched as the ducks took the ice in their bills and played with it. One of the mallards dragged a chunk of ice across the water and shook it with her head. There were about 15 of them in total. At that time it was too late in the day to take decent photos in the lighting, so I was content to sit and watch the ducks. It was very peaceful.