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With spring not too far away, the ducks are picking their partners with the Drakes showing their fighting prowess.
Many of the ducks have the same partners as last season with the younger ones coming into their first adult mating season. Some ducks have several suitors while others have yet to find a permanent mate. Sadly the 4 call ducks that were released into the river last year have all been killed, except for one drake.
He is a tough little character and has attached himself to a couple like glue ! He has been chased, bitten, and pecked, but he is besotted with a particular duck that has a mate, but she looks like his old flame that was killed.
He is spare but what a spirited little drake he is.
The Halloween ducks that were saved 18 months back, have the same mates they had last year, they are beautiful ducks along with their sister who has 3 drakes constantly with her, she must have something special !!
The beautiful white duck has the same mate as last season and all of them will be nesting soon.
Last years Halloween ducklings Sari and Jo, have managed to survive their first year on the river.
This is surprising since all the drakes from that brood were killed, but the 3 sisters survived.
They have turned out to be beautiful ducks and they all managed to get mates as well.
Sari and her sister had two ducklings apiece this year, but all were taken by predators. I hope they will fair better next season.
It's good to see some old duck characters still on the go after quite a few years in the river. One of them I am particularly fond of is Hookie, a drake with a deformed left foot. I first noticed him in 2008, the foot is like a hook and think perhaps he was born with the deformity. He gets picked on by the other ducks, because he is different - just like most species! Nevertheless he has survived at least 7 years, and I do feed him when I see him.
Meanwhile the bantam call ducks are thriving and very bossy, they have no problem scaring off the Mallards.
Sari and Jo are also doing OK, but Jo has an injured right leg, she can still use it but has a limp, hopefully she will recover completely. This mild spell is causing a lot of excitement among the ducks, far too spring like !
The tufted ducks have now departed the river with the mild weather, what characters they are !
The five ducklings have survived the past week's high tides and integrated well with the other ducks in the river. They are learning every day from the other ducks, the warning calls, who's who, and all the goings on between the sexes.
They still stay together as a family, and at one point I saw their Mum close by - I would not be at all surprised if she recognizes her offspring !
Sari and Jo are still close, with the duckling mortality rate it's important that the females survive.
These are a few pics of Sari and Jo that I took over the last few weeks, for my Canadian Swan Friends, Sari and Joseph Grove.
