Resting drake mallard

As we passed a distant, sleeping mallard I stopped and pointed my camera at it and saw its eye open. Even though the rear of the bird was pointing directly at us, with its head tucked under its wing, it could still bring an eye to bear on us to decide if we were a threat or not. The mallard was resting in shallow water at the pool's edge, on a single leg, with its feathers insulating it from the morning breeze. We must have been sufficiently distant for it to feel safe because when I looked again, using my camera as a telescope, its eye was closed once more.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P950

Mallards

Most of the domestic ducks that are farmed today are descended from the wild mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Presumably the mallard was chosen for domestication because many of the wild population tolerate the close proximity of humans, unlike other ducks. Being of the same species enables domestic ducks and mallards to interbreed and produce progeny of varying colours. This pair exhibit the colours of wild mallard but permitted a quite close approach.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Mallard on the roof

When the breeding season begins in our part of Herefordshire the local mallards and Canada geese start to do something that they don't do at any other time of year: something that I have never come across prior to living here. They land on the ridges of the houses and stand there surveying the area round about. Why do they do it? Perhaps they are displaying themselves as "available". Maybe they are advertising their claim to the area. Whatever the reason, it looks most odd. A quick flip through Google images shows that it is not uncommon, but is unusual enough for people to photograph the phenomenon.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Disturbed reflection, Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury's Borough Flour Mills, also known as Healings Flour Mill and Warehouses, stands derelict by the River Avon. The buildings date from 1865 but an earlier mill in the seventeenth century stood at this location, and it is certainly possible that the two mills recorded in Tewkesbury's entry in the Domesday Book (1086) may have been situated here. So, perhaps other people have stood where I stood the other day and enjoyed watching the reflected image of the mill being disturbed by the passage of a drake mallard.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The duck speculum

The speculum is a patch of colour on the secondary flight feathers of many species of duck. Each type of duck has a specific colour and often this is iridescent. It can be a useful clue to bird identification, particularly when birds are immature or in moult. The photograph shows the speculum of Britain's most common duck, the mallard. It is iridescent purple/blue with black and white edges. This species has interbred with domestic ducks and frequently the speculum of the hybrid is a clue to the parentage of one half of the union.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900