Three Degrees ….. was the temperature – and the name we gave to the 3 ducks in the picture after the soul music trio! And recently we’ve found ducks much more interesting as a result of our Christmas and New Year #kayaking trips in #Cornwall and Devon. I do wonder sometimes why we don’t usually give ducks, and in particular the ubiquitous mallards, a second look (unless we’re feeding them). After all – they’re cute, colourful, full of character - and make nice quacking noises. They’re also among the world’s fastest flyers. 50 mph isn’t unusual and one has been clocked at 100 mph by a surprised pilot. In the last two weeks - in addition to the Mallards, Shelducks and occasional Muscovy we see on the #Fowey, we’ve seen our first Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, and wait for it – Red Breasted Mergansers. We’ve even seen a mystery species which eventually we discovered was a “Hybrid” which it seems are not unusual the duck world. It turns out that Ducks are very amorous and promiscuous - and have a tendency to think that variety is the spice of life. I’m not sure if it’s the females being attracted to exotic males (who are after all the colourful half of the duck population) – or males not being discriminating when it comes to female partners who tend to be brown Plain Janes. The result of this duck “free love” are some amazing Hybrids which must excite and frustrate many serious twitchers. But whilst male ducks may look fine and dandy they don’t make very good Dads – normally abandoning their love interest once the eggs are laid – and go off in search of other conquests!
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 10:55:32 +0000
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