Sunset Pond and Sanctuary Marsh are mostly frozen over, but thats not stopping the mallards! Weve been seeing about 15-20 in a group at North Chagrin, taking advantage of any open water they can find. The male mallards are striking and are easy to recognize with their green heads. The females are not as colorful, but they demonstrate the adaptation of camouflage with their colors helping them hide in tall vegetation in their habitat. I think they are just as attractive as the males with their surprising color of blue-violet feathers outlined with bold black and white on their wings. This feature is beautifully displayed in the photo of the female mallard by Roz Schrank. Happy holidays to everyone! ~TW, Naturalist, North Chagrin Nature Center
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:30:01 +0000