January08

Thursday, 3rd

Having just taken a look at the first January entry for 2007 I thought I could just copy it, paste it in here and it would serve just as well for this year, but I won't.

We cleaned out the small pond behind the garage two days ago and replenished reeds and grass verges. I thought a couple of heavy tree logs [from the fallen ash] would help hold the new turves down and stop the ducks from nibbling them away at the edges. John found them floating in the pond and looking like crocodiles the next morning!

He did all the "ducky" business yesterday as I'd taken a bad fall during pond cleaning - foot got trapped in a hole and I fell full thump on a rusty nail. Nothing serious; slightly swollen right ankle, bruised left leg and painful left hand, all of which I nursed by resting up until this morning when there were two iced-over ponds to smash. By golly it's been cold today - let's have some global warming again!

I've not taken any pictures of this new year yet, but I thought this one of Anabelle, Hedda and Candida [half hidden] very nice:

Tuesday, 8th January 2008

Our first egg in months tumbled out when I cleaned the duck pond hut today, I was so thrilled. It was a BIG one so I suspect it was Hedda. I promised the first egg after the "lay-off" [ha ha] to friend Graham who has missed our duck eggs as much or even more than we have. Let's hope there's another one tomorrow morning and his wife Pat can have an egg as well!

Wednesday, 9th January 2008

Yes, there was another, similarly sized egg this morning, so Pat can have one if Graham lets her. The ducks usually produce a "string" of 7 or 8 eggs before having a break and then starting another string - except for the Campbells like Hedda who seem to be laying non-stop once they're off. We shall see!

Well, that was the good news, but I immediately got a damper after getting the egg: saw two foxes chasing each other barely 20 yards from our fence in the "wetlands" next door. They didn't look fully grown, and I was wondering if they were the youngsters we saw last year playing outside their burrow and they are fighting each other for territory, or whether it's the mating season starting already.

Can't say that the ducks' mating season has started; Captain is still trying like mad to escape his pursuing females at the head of a wedge formation every morning. The girls seem ready all right, flattening themselves on the water with frantic head bobbing and Hedda usually obliges with a mock mating, but Captain shows nothing but "I want to get away!" A few days ago, though, I saw two of the boys having a fight, Blob seemed to catch the worst of it.

It's now just over a week since my nasty fall in the old chicken pen, and for those who were worried about me: just a few twinges now at the three affected places and no other after-effects, ok?

Sunday, 13th January 2008

No egg yesterday but there was one again this morning. Nobody else has started to lay, unfortunately, so we've had just 5 so far. But I'm sure it won't be long now before the others get going.

Captain seems to be getting more interested in 'Spring' after suffering constant harrassment from the girls, and rather than just pecking their heads and doing a bit of head bobbing I actually saw him "do the business" - not on Candida whom he is approaching here:

but on Hedda, who you can see is hanging around.

The ducks don't like John's new shed. They treat it with extreme suspicion:

Saturday, 19th January 2008

Time is still going by to fast; I'll never catch up with all the things I want to do.

The days for our "whacks" appear to follow the same pattern as always, just with more rain than usual. They still suffer the crowds of pheasants and waterhens - and other, smaller birds - to raid their food as if they couldn't do a thing about it. The other day I counted 11 hen pheasants [and a rabbit!] when I took this snap out of the upstairs window,

and on looking left saw 3 more of them on top and under my privet topiary ball:

I've not been quick enough to catch the waterhens on camera, but I see between 4 and 9 of them every time I go near the duck pond.

The ducks' greatest delight these days is schnozzling in the vast amount of mud puddles we have at the moment, particularly within the enclosure. At quarter past eight in the morning they don't show up very well on camera,

but this is what the area looks like in today's sunshine:

This little break of sunshine happened close to lunch today [it's raining again now], and my feathered friends were having a very happy time in the pond. Primmie, in particular, was splashing and diving more than I've ever seen her do, diving under with a big whoosh and re-surfacing a little later at the opposite end of the pond.

And Blob was kicking up his heels in 'I'm waving, not drowning' fashion. It was great to watch!

To finish for today this photo which I thought was very nicely composed:

Sunday, 20th January 2008

I was just getting ready to put them in last night when I saw the whole bunch of them near and in the frog pond.

By the time I got the camera out they were pretending they'd never been in.

We took the barriers down some time ago as the ducks just didn't go near it any more. I immediately rescued some plants I don't want them to nibble!

Putting the top lot to bed both drakes suddenly made a break for the gate - lucky I had shut it behind me - followed by the mob, in an obvious attempt to get back to the frog pond. I shall have to get the barriers back up tomorrow or the larvae at the bottom and later the frog spawn won't stand a chance.

And yes, they were back very early this morning and jumped out of the pond when they heard the window opening:

I noticed Harlequin was sitting outside in the rain,

and John called "come in you silly cat!"

which of course frightened them enough to double back to the duck pond:

It didn't last long, I shall just have to let them be until I can get a barrier up again. Annie will be pleased - she was begging me last year to let the whackies back in to clear up the pond and duck weed, just for a day or two she said. Well, you've had your wish at last, darling!

It was like some crazy dance: door opens, ducks get out of pond knowing full well they ought not to be there. But the temptation is too great, looking to see if the coast is clear, back in with gusto. And so on and so on and so on, all these procedures watched with interest by the two beasts remaining behind the farm gate.

After yesterday's brief sunshine it was raining practically non-stop today, by the way.

Thursday, 24th January 2008

Somebody slow down the clocks, please. It's nearly the end of January and I can't keep up. The white camellia and the snowdrops are out, as are lots of the primula. Bet you next time I take stock it'll be summer!

We did go Monday morning for some more netting. I put it up Monday afternoon and the whacks saw it from a distance and never went near again. But look, 3 days without ducky interference and the pond still looks brown

compared to what it was like last Sunday:

I think I got them out of there just in time. They've not had a mardi on about it at all, just accepted it. This afternoon - NO RAIN!!! - I treated them to some pasta. Doesn't it look as if Donald in front here is trying to frighten Captain with his newly acquired vampire fangs?