We have a duck pond way down the hill in the back yard. Mostly, our feathered friends are temporary residents. The coyote decoys scare off the Canada geese, but the wood ducks and mallards tend to hang around for a while.
The wood ducks are gorgeous, but a little skittish. The mallards are another matter. Just this morning, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard came all the way up to our patio — twice. I’ve nicknamed them Harold and Susie. Harold was there pecking away at some spilled birdseed below the Duncraft feeder. Susie was standing 3′ away, looking in the opposite direction, as if to say “Harold, have you no dignity? Stop embarrassing me.”
I wonder if they’re looking for a place to nest. Sometimes, they have a tagalong mallard hybrid male that has a white breast, but otherwise looks like a mallard. I don’t care if they decide to nest near the house, but why they wouldn’t choose a spot by the pond is beyond me. Well, wherever they set up shop, we’ll have to keep our dog away from it. Can’t do anything about the neighbor’s free ranging 75 lb. hound mix, but we can control our own.
Ducks are cool. Geese aren’t. Unfortunately, it’s illegal to go bowling with goose eggs. Canada geese aren’t endangered; they’re invasive. Still, it’s illegal to destroy a Canada goose egg. It’s be a sham though, if a fox got it. As for duck eggs, I’d protect them just like their own mommy would.
We also saw “The Finchleys,” and Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal. The Finchleys are the house finches. We also have some Titmice around. I can have a whole “whee wheat” conversation back and forth with them this time of year.
Bird watching is fun. Most of this is normal this time of year, except for the mallards coming within 10′ of the patio sliders. They don’t normally do that. We’ve had the bird feeders out there for years, so there has to be something more to it than the free food.
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