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| May 2011 |
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| August 2011 |
The pasture grass has continued to grow and we have had visits from many pairs of Australian Wood Ducks. They peck around in the grass and leave behind lots of well received duck poo! I had wondered if the cat would chase the ducks, but he is so well fed that he just sits and watches them.
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| Australian Wood Ducks |
The male and female ducks can be easily distinguished as the male has a solid brown head and solid grey on his wings and the female duck has 2 grey stripes either side of her eyes and a speckled colour on her sides.
This morning I had a great surprise when I looked out the front to see a mother and a father duck and 6 little ducklings trotting around. Mother duck was always up the front and mostly feeding her face and father duck was at the back ever vigilant and rarely pecking the ground. I quickly grabbed my camera and went outside and immediately the ducks took their defensive poses. All lowered to the ground and did not move for about 10 minutes.
About 30 minutes later they were still fossicking around and then the little group headed off into the alpaca paddock towards the dam. It is at least a 100 mtr walk and those tiny duckling legs were keeping up with mum and dad. There is nowhere to hide, so the chances of a crow taking a duckling is quite likely. I supposed that the family is nesting over near the dam so didn't expect to see them again today. However, little duckling legs must be very strong as when I looked out of the window this afternoon, they were back.
It is wonderful to see this new spring life, but with foxes, wild cats and crows it will be sad to see the family reduce in numbers. I hope they get to keep at least 2. I will keep you posted.
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