MALLARD LEARNING CURVE

Remember when I said I was just as glad that the mother mallard who’s been feeding all summer at the base of the red maple hadn’t kept bringing the whole brood with her every time she stopped by? Well, I spoke too soon. Now that they're older, she's able to take them all with her to the lake, and today I saw them all arriving just beyond the breakwall. I knew what was coming next. You may recall, the mom mallard brought the tiny brand new babies a couple of times, but that was it (or so I thought) and, like I said, I was kind of relieved. I can barely keep up with the birdseed consumption as it is. That’s mainly because the usual suspects - bluejays, grackles, redwings, mourning doves, cardinals, sparrows etc - all go through the seed so fast I have to keep putting it out there so there’ll be at least some for the ducks whenever they arrive. I haven’t kept track of how much I’ve spent on birdseed this summer, and frankly, I don’t want to know.

Then this morning, when the hen showed up with some of the kids in tow, I was sorry I hadn't put out any seed yet. It looked like she had about five or six out of the original eleven with her. Then she flew up over the breakwall, nibbled a bit at the leftovers, and then started quacking like crazy. Then she flapped up onto the breakwall parapet, and looked down at the youngsters, and quacked some more. It was as plain as the nose (beak?) on your face that she was calling to them to come and learn about this valuable food source. None of them lifted a feather. Typical teenagers. It seems like only yesterday when they were babies, they followed her around in a tight single file everywhere she went, and instantly obeyed her when she told them to stop while she check both ways for traffic in the road. But now that they’re older, they just ignore her. I guess it’s the same the world over. Later, she called again, she got one of them to join her. So there I was with my camera (hidden on the other side of the window) hoping more of the kids would fly up and over. I better put another bag of birdseed on my next shopping list.

P.S. When I posted about this before, someone had asked me about what I was putting out. It isn’t cracked corn (I haven’t even seen any for sale around here); it’s a mixed seed especially for songbirds. And apparently mallards.

RED-ON-RED

I've been keeping an eye out, hoping that leucistic cowbird will put in another appearance, so the fluttering white at the base of the red maple really caught my attention. But it wasn't the cowbird, it was a handsome male red-headed woodpecker. It was getting ready to rain, so the light isn't great, but there he is. I spill seed there for the pair of mallards who still come, but our timing isn't always in sync, and the crowd of other birds hoover it up before the ducks get there. I hope the woodpecker will bring the missus next time; I've never seen a female.

SAME TIME NEXT YEAR?

Last summer, a pair of Mallards would come on the calm days and dabble around at the foot of the breakwall, and then doze on the rocks. One day they decided to go "over the wall" and see what all the commotion was about. They discovered a lively community centered around the bird feeder, which, despite my seed-catcher arrangement, always had seeds at the base of the red maple. When I went out to refill the tube feeder, I started spilling a little mound of seed at the base of the trunk, just for them, and they got in the habit of stopping by twice a day, morning and evening. Their routine never varied: the hen always ate first, for as long as she wanted, while the drake kept a keen watch - the yards here aren't fenced, and I have neighbors who let their Labs run free. They race into my yard anytime they see any birds or other critters around. I've missed a couple of bird IDs because of it!!

This year, I have two Mallards again. I like to think it's the same pair, but of course it's hard to tell. But here they are a couple of days ago. It's a little fuzzy because I took it through the window rather than scare them away.

The other photo is of some grackles, in my favorite posture of theirs. I call it "falling for the old looking-up-in-the-air trick." Has anyone else noticed how they always seem to have their eyes on the skies, no matter what else they're doing?

P.S. Today is the designated "Get Tax Papers Together Day" around here, so I might not get to visit all your blogs; hope to make it tomorrow for OSI!