Comical Moments
Everyone has to scratch, and sometimes that moment it takes to respond, when this Mallard with her ducklings breaks out of the serene motherly pose, is the moment I like to capture.
f/6.3 21/1600; ISO 800 260mm
The next one is similar , this female goldeneye came out of the pond, made eye contact and came straight toward me except to scratch, then veered away, probably because she saw that I didn’t have any hand-outs.
f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec. ISO 800; 270 mm
Baby Bobber Birds
These Goldeneye ducklings are only a couple of days old.The lighting was challenging, with overcast skies and high reflections in the water. In retrospect, I could have used my polarizer filter but I didn’t , so used the recovery slider in Lightroom to tone down the bright spots in the water and “upped ” the contrast. it felt strange to do this with e heavy cloud cover that made everything so dark..My shutter speed was a little slow but I was hesitant to use a higher ISO with the Rebel XS because of the resultant noise.
This mother walked very purposefully right past me and headed over to a couple sitting on a nearby bench, looking for food, saw it wasn’t getting any then waddled back quickly to the pond. i was surprised how fast she could travel with her legs set so far back on the body. They are this way because she is a diving duck.Just check out her determination!
Later I was happy to see a family in the water although with some misgivings due to algae eater being put in the ponds with warning signs for the humans not to go in the water. What about the danger to the waterfowl?
The ducklings are cute and the mother ducks crack me up!The baby ducks are so adept at swimming and diving, hopping up in the air to take a dive and can stay submerged then pop! up like little corks. Even the ones I did include are poor quality-I am afraid that I am just not “on my game”.I hope that you enjoy the babies regardless.
Oh Yes! There are Babies After All!
When i took a break from job-hunting, God help me, I went to what is now for me the infamous Hawrelak Park and I spotted some geese, Mallard and Goldeneye families. I felt very happy and even talked to some people nicely that were willing to listen to the downside of feeding the wildlife. That made me very happy to see that some managed to survive the chasing and lazers and god-awful sounds coming from the speakers on the islands. The powers that be are going to gather them up at some point. But for now a brief respite. 🙂
Common Goldeneye Ducks
I find the Common Goldeneye Ducks a never-ending source of entertainment. A pair is featured on my header. The male is more colourful with a greenish head and white and black body. The female has a brown head. They are a monogamous duck. They are small and provide the most comical viewing of all the ducks that I see here. They have their legs more toward the back of their bodies because they are diving ducks but on ground they waddle. When people feed them and they shouldn’t, the ducks become very bold and look you in the eye as if to say, “Well, what have you got for me?” Otherwise they eat crustaceans and water life as well as plants.
They are very aggressive in the water, chasing away any others that get close and will dive and come underneath another duck or goose and bite them.
The ducklings stay in the nest for up to two days then are out on the water. They bob like little corks. Some overwinter here in warm ravines where there is open water all year but most migrate to the United States.They are plentiful here.
Here is the male, bending his head back in his courtship ritual. This particular one is so athletic that he creates a big splash as he bends backwards.
Here is a female, just swimming here but totally entertaining in her behaviour.
Here is a mother, with one of her babies, just a few days old.
Here is a close-up of a duckling, a little older.
A Heart Warming Story with Questions
Last night I went to the pond to see what was there. I was photographing some young ducks when I met a couple watching them. They told me how they had seen a mother duck and her ducklings in a busy parking lot. I heard how they and /or other people tried to catch the mother duck, who panicked, and flew away, leaving her babies behind. Figuring that the mother had abandoned her young ones, the couple gathered the ducklings in a box acquired from a nearby liquor store and brought them to the pond.They had consulted a veterinarian and were told that touching the ducks did not mean they would be rejected and there was a good chance they would be cared for by another mother duck so they brought the babies to this pond a few miles away. Well,it happened. Another duck has adopted them and they have a couple of older siblings and appear to be an integrated family. The people were coming to check on the ducklings to see if they were all right.It is a heart-warming story, about baby ducks being rescued by caring human beings and I was touched by their compassion.
I know the parking lot that they spoke of and it is far from water but close to the river valley. I thought about it further and wondered, where did the ducks come from? Did she hatch her eggs near an apartment complex where there was a fountain? Did they travel far to get to this parking lot/strip mall? If people hadn’t tried to catch the mother duck would the family still be together? So many questions. Did this couple and probably others interfere too much? Could they have acted as traffic control so the ducks could have returned to where they had come from? Was the family looking for a new home? I wonder how the mother is doing?Are they going to be safe at the pond now that it is being cleared up for an upcoming triathalon? And finally, what would I have done?
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
More on the Goldeneye Duck
A most entertaining duck, the male Goldeneye has breeding behaviour that includes tilting his head backwards and letting out a squawk to get the female’s attention. The female seems more bold about coming up to people for a handout once she realizes that some are a food source.
They have positions and “looks” that are just downright comical some of which I may add later since I can’t find them now. See for yourself.
©Jane Chesebrough
- ©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
Baby Bobber Birds
The first ducklings on the ponds that I see in the spring are the Goldeneyes. My friend called them “Baby Bobber Birds” because after they dive, they pop up to the surface like those bobbers that are used for fishing. At first I thought the mother was somewhat neglectful as I saw her offspring spread out across the waters seemingly alone.Then I noticed what happens when another duck gets too close. The protective mother is on the attack. She can be quite aggressive and has a sneaky method where she dives under water a little ways from her target then comes up underneath her victim and bites them. In this series a mother Goldeneye is on a rock with two ducklings (maybe hers, or maybe two she has stolen).As she dives into the water one of them is knocked off the rock into the water.She attacks another female and after chasing her away, returns to the rock . All three are united , first on the rock then they go to shore. I want to share these photos so you too, can appreciate them.
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
©Jane Chesebrough
My Heartsong 