I’m a very bad person. Let’s just get that right out of the way: I’m terrible. Every time I go for a walk along North Creek, I forget to bring duck food. Most days, it doesn’t matter, but then there are days when all the duckies are hungry and quacking at me and I feel like a complete failure of a hominid. What good am I to them except as a duck feeder? I fail.
But they let me photograph them anyway. They’re dears, even if I know the males are terrible rapist assholes.
On a recent warm spring day, I went for a walk along the creek, and encountered a mutant mallard, who graciously posed even though I had no foodstuffs for him.
Most mallards have dark chests, so seeing one with a white chest speckled with brown was intriguing. I climbed the bank to get a better look, circling wide around him so as not to annoy him. My efforts were apparently successful, because he settled down.
I love that black-and-white speckling up around the bill. It’s quite interesting.
His mate prompted him to stand up for himself.
I see he has no trouble attracting normal mallard ladies. She’s bog-standard. Very plump and shiny, too – she seems to be in excellent health.
Her prompting got him to pose in sunshine, which allowed me to get a good shot of the brown-tipped feathers scattered around his chest.
I think his coloration comes from being crossed with one of these.
One day, I’ll share the rest of the photos in that set. These two were quite an item on North Creek a few years ago.
After amusing myself with the mutant, I headed down to the creek, where I was promptly surrounded by a begging chorus of ducks.
I guess they hadn’t been fed much that day, because they were really excited to see me. Alas, I am a bad duck caretaker, and had nothing to give them. They were disappointed, but they stayed close by, whether because they were being lazy or hopeful I’m not sure. At least I got to see some pretty awesome detail on their feathers.
As you can see, this one has the standard brown chest.
Further up the creek, there was an argument between male ducks. If I can get the video edited to where it shows everything properly, I may post it. It was funny watching them strut around, sticking out their little chests and being all macho. And there was a lady mallard who seemed to have aspirations to be a belly dancer.
We’ll have ducklings in the not-too-distant future. I can’t wait! I will definitely be bringing you plenty of photos and videos, because they are adorbs.
From your last duck post, I realized that mallards come in all shapes and sizes, and that a white-breasted male mallard is about as ununusual as they get. But it’s pretty, and awesome to see one in the wild! :)
You can’t say that about our friend Dana. Apologize at once! And promise never to say anything like that again.
Well, actually, it’s kind of true: she’s terrible at being terrible. A very bad person – very bad at being terrible.
Not all that unusual, and not a mutant either. Both the white-breasted male and the other, stranger looking one, are mallard to domestic duck hybrids. Not even all that hybrid, since virtually all domestic ducks, other than Muscovies, are mallard descendants. Once a male domestic duck escapes, he tends to have a good chance of breeding success since they run larger than wild mallards.
The hybrids will tend to be around all year, since they often don’t fly all that well.
Why a duck?
It’s deep water, that’s why a duck. It’s deep water.
No, this the Jewish neighborhood. We’ll pass over that.
I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.
Q: What is the difference between a duck?
Eleven, because ice cream doesn’t grow on trees.
This is why we don’t let the males do laundry: they’re careless with the bleach!
Which I suspect is all part of their “let the laydeez do teh houseworkz” scheme…
One of its feet is both the same.