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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Garden Visitors: The Mallards Return

Standing on the edge of the pool, he executes a perfect arabesque.
It's been a week since the mallards dropped in for their first daily visit. (Read about their first visit HERE.) Every day this week, the drake has dropped in, sometimes with his mate, other times alone. He has turned a deaf ear to the dogs and alternates between showing off and ignoring us. Sadly (for him, at least), the pool he has been swimming in is scheduled for renovation and if the weather forecast holds, construction can begin as early as the end of this week. In the meantime, we are enjoying his antics as he preens, swims, and calls to his mate.

Preening for the camera
This morning we could hear her answering his calls from the wetland area and guess that she might be nesting.

Calling to his mate, who called back to him from the conservation area.
 
Something delicious in the water.

More preening for the camera
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2 comments:

  1. CathySaturday, May 21, 2011 6:55:00 PM

    Lordy Cathy, I have never seen ducks get in a swimming pool!! And send more rain our way!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cathy and SteveSunday, May 22, 2011 12:31:00 AM

    In the past, they have dropped in for a quick swim but never stayed more than a minute or two and never more than once or twice during a season. This has been definitely outside the norm, with LONG visits daily for a week now. He was here most of the morning today.

    You can HAVE the rain! Today was our first day of sun in weeks, and although the temperature took a dive by 20 degrees at 5 PM, the forecast for the rest of the week is for at least partial sun and temperatures approaching or into the 70's, which means they can work on the pool.

    If it weren't for the fact that we aren't filtering the water or swimming, I'd be having a heart attack with the ducks spending so much time in the pool. I'm hoping that once the construction starts and we get back to chlorinated, filtered water, they will find another place to swim.

    With the water level as low as it is, Toughie won't jump in, but once the pool is up and running again and the water at the usual level, he will have no compunctions about jumping in and going after the ducks!

    Thanks for dropping by!

    ReplyDelete

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