End of a Season
Before we reach the first day of the New Year, I wanted to update you on the comings and goings at the Prolific Pond.
I've written about the group of Muskovey ducks, mom and her 11 babies, and how one morning while traversing across the parking lot, the babies, one by one, fell into the grate of the drainage pipe and how mom was all "aflutter" because they couldn't get out.
My fellow co-worker, Tim White, rescued the little bundles of fluff and mom proceeded to remove them to another pond where they would be safe.
In all these past months, we've never had the pleasure of seeing this group again but we feel she did the right thing by moving them to safety.
Shortly after this duck incident, a new brood consisting of mom and 7 babies moved to the pond. Watching her since last August with her babies has been one of the most telling experiences of how ducks in the wild teach and protect their young.
There were 7 dark babies and 1 yellow baby who looked so out of place. Kathy and I began feeding the tribe cracked corn and bread daily and we watched as these little creatures with wings no longer than a minute, learned how to not only emulate their mom and hone their natural instincts but also how to interact with humans.
Kathy and I have always been very careful not to let the Muskies become too use to us and have made every effort to keep a certain distance between us while feeding.
We named several of the babies because of their personality or because of their feather design. We have Tuxedo because his whole breast area is solid white while the rest of his feathers are iridescent maroon, green and blue/black. He is stunning. White Wing because of the large white patch on the underside of both wings. Very prominent and gives him a striking appearance. Lady Bird because she is so dainty yet regal as she swims across the pond. And I can't forget Gee, my very favorite of the babies. He was the one yellow baby and we watched as he turned into a magnificent rich deep brown beauty with iridescent green and blue feathers. He also is the most sociable and greets us first before the others. I named him Greedy G and Gee just seems to fit him perfectly. I think he has hollow legs he can put away so much cracked corn!
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