Saturday 3 April 2010

Duck Deception

Nature is truly amazing, and the more I observe it the more amazed I become. Take the mallard duck and her brown run of the mill colouring, pretty boring really and not a patch on the colourful mallard drake. Nature has of course made them both those colours for a good reason , and when you see first hand how great the female is at camouflage, then you truly appreciate how well equipped she is for survival of her species.
A friend showed me a ducks nest the other day and what a fantastic piece of camouflage and workmanship it was. Take a look at the photo and spot the deceptive duck !

There are only about 5 ducks on the lower river not already sitting on eggs, this includes jemima who is still putting on the fat and flanked by her two escorts !


As for that deformed drake I mentioned in a previous post, his swallowing problem seemed to have eased a little but not gone. I fashioned a piece of netting with fishing line the other day, and went down during that horrendous gale , he was looking for food but everytime he got close enough and saw me reach for the netting he was off ! I will keep a close eye on him and maybe try again later. With the deformity, he is highly skilled at avoiding confrontation and capture !


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