Follow

Keep in contact through the following social networks or via RSS feed:

  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on GoodReads
  • Follow on Pinterest
  • Follow on Blogger

Visiting Ducks

At the supermarket where I most commonly shop, one of the shopkeepers nearby rips up  stale bread rolls  and tosses them under one of the trees  in the parking area. Birds cluster there in noisy flocks, waiting for their daily bread, mostly  pigeons and a few seagulls, but the other day I was delighted to see a couple of ducks.

I’m very fond of ducks, as was my father. We even kept a few ducks when I was a kid, and of the various varieties we had, my favorite was the Khaki Campbell, a brown duck — ours were very friendly. And the ducklings were so sweet — little tortoiseshell bundles of fluff.

But these were wild ducks and though they looked a bit like Khaki Campbells, I knew they weren’t. That stripy head and their beautiful blue bills made that clear. I looked them up and they’re Pacific Black Ducks.

I’ve never seen them in this area before. They usually hang out near water, not in supermarket car parks, but we’d had a whopper of a storm the day before and there was still puddles everywhere, so I guess they felt at home. At any rate they happily devoured the bread, seemingly unbothered by the other birds, or by me, edging  ever closer to take a photo.

It was just a little insignificant moment, but it really made me smile. Sometimes the smallest things can make my day. 

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
theo
theo
1 year ago

I love ducks. If I had a pond, I’d have ducks. These are pretty. I’ve never seen a blue bill before. Unfortunately, too much bread gives them angel wing so I hope they migrate away soon. But they’re fun visitors :)

Anne Gracie
Anne Gracie
1 year ago
Reply to  theo

Theo I wondered about the bread and whether it was good for them or not. But more, I was worried that they were wild ducks and that someone might decide to catch/kill/eat them. I’m not sure when duck hunting season is, but I know quite a few people in my neighborhood hunt. :(

Constance
Constance
1 year ago

Living in a coastal town in New England, we see many unusual birds that apparently are blown off course during our infamous nor’easters, but I’ve never seen a blue-billed duck. Are they gorgeous? I must look them up in one of husband’s many, many bird books – I wonder at what age the bill becomes blue. We live near a cove with a storm drain outlet, so warm-ish water is always entering the cove. This attracts lots of ducks and I am particularly fond the wood ducks we only infrequently see. This morning there were two adult swans and 3… Read more »

Pam
Pam
1 year ago

Aw, they are beautiful. I love ducks.