May


	May
	2.5.04 I was going to tell you a little tale about our assassin ducks. Yesterday, Saturday, the whole day passed off without rain for the first time this week since Monday evening. John had gone to the coffee morning and to see auntie May on her birthday, but I was outside all day accompanied by the ducks, doing weeding in the damp earth which brought many worms to the surface. Then, it was nearly 5 and John was just putting away the tractor mower, while I was trying to finish an area of the flower bed before going in for tea, a small frog jumped out of a clump of vegetation and landed at the edge of the lawn near to my feet. When I turned around I couldn't see it any more - where had it gone? I've no need to tell you, you will have guessed: the ducks had got it. They had a contest to snatch it from each other, or rather its remains. I could see its little legs dangling out of one duck's bill or another. Poor frog! I like frogs. They control pests in the garden, too. I never thought that the ducks would tackle a frog - and this, shamefully treated one, was 6 - 7cm big! 3.5.04 Hilde says I should break the ducks' habit of eating frogs? Well, how? Should I smack them around the beaks? When they've caught one it's too late already. In future I will watch out for frogs when I'm weeding, and try and take them to safety (like into John's greenhouse where lots can be found). I'm now sure, sorry to say, that the ducks have eaten all the frog spawn and the tadpoles in the frog pond, maybe the newts as well - the water still hasn't cleared, I can't see anything. It's a good thing that Emmeline and Sarah took two jars full of spawn and taddies home with them after their first visit on 27.3. I hear from Carl and Val that the little froglets are doing alright. The "boys'" fights I only became aware of around the middle of March, and that they try and chase away people (especially little ones) with a threatening posture and open beak I noticed only since Emmeline and Sarah's visit. Even after their first walk to the pond to watch the ducks they came back very quickly and said the ducks were pursuing them. Sarah came into the house several times and complained: "Rudolpho's chasing me!" Nonsense, I said. He's only looking after his girls because he thinks you are threatening them. The same performance every time they went out. Finally they came in all flustered and said they had had to save themselves on to the stile to get away from Rudolpho's beak. "He's got teeff", said Sarah with conviction. "He's got teeth?" I resounded sceptically. "Yes, I've seen them", she said, "a whole row of them!" Rubbish, I said, and as it just happened to be time to feed the cat I went out to the garage. Within seconds I realized I was being followed noisily and with open beak (didn't notice any teeth, though!). I turned and chased Rudolpho away. Two seconds later he was there again, right at my heels. I had a newspaper in one hand and smacked him round the beak with it. It didn't work, he came on again, and as I was carrying the cat's dish in the other hand I hoiked him out of the way with my foot. I could just see behind me Em and Sarah convulsed with laughter in the conservatory. "You kicked him, you kicked Rudolpho!" they shrieked. Not true, not at all. I only shoved him, honest! This behaviour - only Rudolpho does it - Valentino just gets involved in a fight after every "attack" (whether on birds, rabbits or people) - is continuing. Yesterday Sam took Leah to the duck pond, probably to provoke such an "attack", and it made Leah cry. A few days ago John was busy watering the plants in the greenhouses, and sprayed Rudolpho, just for the fun of it. He just stood there and took it - water off a duck's back! But then, when he stopped, John said "he ran me!" And he tried it again with me, but I lifted him up at once and stroked him (that's what I think you're supposed to do with cockerels when they run you). Since then he's not had a go at me, but John just came in and said Rudolpho pursued him right to the first step of the conservatory. Fat thanks, that is, when you consider that just half an hour ago we removed the long metal piece for their ease of access to the frog pond!
	5.5.04 Well yes, the weather is a pain. Today started wet as well, sun/cloudy at the moment (09.25). The forecast is bad for the whole week. Yesterday afternoon we had wild April-type weather, changing from rain to sun, to hail, to sun, a thunderstorm, and so on. On our walk around the garden last night we could only squelch around. The ducks like it! Several times they came to the front of the garage where there are always two big puddles when it rains, and where they enjoy paddling and dredging. Ha, they're paddling in the puddles! - almost a tongue twister. They like mud even better. When I made the small bog garden on the fence side of the duck pond I made one area lower for the water to overflow. So there is always a muddy puddle at that place where the ducks just love to stir and snuffle around. And when John is about to plant leeks or brassicas and fills the deep planting holes with water, the ducks are in there with their beaks faster than he can put in the plants! 9.5.04 Last night I only wanted to have a brief look at the television and then carry on with writing my duck diary. But there was a (two hour long) programme on Carthage and the punic wars which fascinated me/us. During a break for the adverts at about quarter past 8 I went upstairs to switch the computer off and, as usual, had a look out of the window to see what the ducks were doing. That's when I saw that the/a heron was standing by the duck pond again. I called John and we stood there for quarter of an hour, watching as the heron circled the pond, tried to wade in and beat his wings madly to get out again; how our four runners decided eventually that no danger threatened them from this big bird and came out of the pond to go on a slug search. The heron took off shortly afterwards. It is always interesting here, and I wasn't sorry about the quarter of an hour of the Carthage programme I missed. (P.S. I lost all the heron pictures I took before when trying to move them from one folder into another. The photo on the right is a cheat - it was taken in early July!)
	13.5.04 There's a record to be noted here. Up until last Wednesday, 3.5., we used to get one egg for a few days, then two for one or two days, and so on. Since Thursday however we've had two EVERY day, two eggs for 8 days running, fantastic. This morning I had a nasty surprise, though. I was mixing dough and a bad egg got into the mixture - I had to start again. Somehow my egg storage system had gone awry, and an old egg must have got amongst the new ones. I shall date them with felt pen from now on! 14.5.04 I shouldn't have mentioned the egg record - only had one today. 16.5.04 No, we didn't have two eggs again the following day, we had none yesterday! At least not in the duck house. But John, who was busy digging over one of the vegetable beds and therefore had "duck company", saw how Gertie busied herself under the broom near him, with much noise. It didn't seem quite the right thing for her, though, because she went off to the top of the field, at the edge of the strip of land separating us from our neighbours. The others went with her, of course. Some time after all four were around his feet again, and John went to the spot where he suspected a "nest" and, would you believe it, came back with an egg, nice and warm. You're sure to wonder why they are no longer laying in the nest by the ditch. Me too. But I haven't seen the ducks at that spot for a while, not for some time before the series of the 8 "double eggs" began. Could it be that the presence of the rabbits bothered them? I saw a fresh burrow in the ditch side of the nest; also saw the boys chasing rabbits away from that spot a few times. And do you know what I did with this 15.5. egg? First I wrote the date on it, then Gertie, and then I put it into a basket with fine wood shavings along with three other eggs from the days before. I set the basket into a carton and suspended two of the little electric light bulbs (the ones I use in the Hänsel und Gretel houses) above it. I've turned the eggs this morning and shall continue to do this once or twice a day, hoping that at least one of the four eggs will hatch! Mentioning our neighbours earlier (there are one or two we get to talk to now and again) I was reminded of a conversation a few days ago. There's a strip of garden at the top of the drive, opposite the post office, which I was weeding when the wife of one of the above mentioned neighbours came over to me with one of her grandchildren. She was telling me how much she enjoyed watching the ducks, and that they had found a hole through into their garden and now and then "played" on their lawn. Would you Adam and Eve it, I had no idea the little rascals were invading our neighbours' gardens, too!
	16.5.04 (Helmut's reply) You've made yourself an incubator! What a great idea! If it works and they hatch, that would be something! I'm crossing all available fingers, very tightly! Turning the eggs is o.k., but do those little electric bulbs give off enough warmth? I'm eagerly awaiting further developments! It's nice that your neighbours can also take pleasure in your ducks, but you can see that they have to be watched over devilishly hard. If the neighbours weren't so nice the ducks might well finish up in their cooking pots. 21.5.04 There were one or two things I was going to tell you about the ducks. It's more than two weeks ago now, I'm sure, that I noticed Rudolpho's curly tail feather wasn't there any more. Only the drakes have this curl, and Valentino's is still in its full glory. Did he pluck out Rudolpho's tail curl, I wonder, in one of their many fights? And then I wanted to mention that both John and I saw newts in the frog pond, on three different days. We saw them just under the surface, you can't see any further through the stirred-up mud! The last thing was - a fox! Wednesday evening it was. I had been busy with cake making stuff, and John was watching football. It was already a quarter to 10 when we suddenly remembered the ducks. John went to shut them in, and saw a big fox in the horse field. He chased him into the ditch, and the ducks were all alright. So last night we shut up the ducks punctually at quarter past 9. John had gone out some time earlier to scout around and see if the fox was there again. It frightened us.
	21.5.04 (Helmut's reply) So you still have newts. Does that mean that the ducks don't like (to eat) them, or that the newts hide away from the ducks. The last thing was - a fox. That really was the last thing you wanted now. Have you had any thoughts about protective measures and, if so, what they could be? Do foxes have any natural enemies? If they are wolves then you should surround, at least the closer environment up to the horse field, with wolf scent (no joke!). I've read about such preventive measures. In Germany, because so many deer were killed on the motorways in certain areas where their runs were (fences hadn't helped), and motorists had also been endangered, they tried wolf scent and have had some success. You have a federation for the preservation of wild life, don't you, maybe they can advise. It would be a pity if the fox got the ducks. Kill him! 23.5.04 Yes, the newts. I have an idea that they are faster than the frogs in hiding, and that is why they've escaped the ducks so far. As regards foxes, I don't know if strong scent would keep them away like the deer. Yes, I have heard of such preventive measures, but here they talk about lion dung. John suggested at once that I should take a bucket and a shovel and go to Twycross Zoo to fetch some! Funny thing with the deer. A short time ago I saw a film in which a young couple urinated in a wide circle around a high hunting seat. This was to keep the deer away so that the hunters couldn't shoot them. Maybe I should encourage John to stand in the ditch, whistling in a nonchalant manner while ................
	26.5.04 Rudolpho in a fever of pursuit How often have I mentioned that Rudolpho is the only one amongst the ducks who thinks he has to chase something or someone? We have tried all sorts of things to try and make him stop, but nothing has worked. It is as if he can't help himself. He just HAS to chase everything: birds big and small (only the heron he hasn't dared tackle), rabbits and humans, especially of the male variety (is it possible that he can distinguish between male and female?). He can be right in the middle of the horse field as in this picture, where he's just looking into the undergrowth to see if there is something moving, and as soon as he has spotted John he comes running up. He even waits in front of the conservatory door until John comes out and he can chase him. If, when the weather is nice, we're sitting down in the garden having a cup of coffee, he leaves the others, runs up to us and pecks at a boot or shoe (which earns him an immediate tap on the beak), or he just stands there and looks at us challengingly, whether we wouldn't like to get up so he can chase us. Then he runs back to the others. He always takes the same route, downhill with the bay hedge and the wild flower bed on his left, past another bed, up to us, then straight back up on the other side of the wild flower bed and the bay hedge on his right, back to the others who are waiting by the broom, and then the whole performance all over again and again ... eight times we counted one morning, and he covered a good 25 metres there and back! Picking him up and stroking him doesn't work any more, either, we can't even catch him now - he's found out what we're after. I've tried ignoring him, too, but if we let him run after us for a while without confronting him he runs in front of our legs, just as he does with Valentino to get him involved in a fight, and then he sometimes gets right between our legs - a few times that nearly made me fall over. The cat, in the meantime, has got used to the newcomers and asserts herself - just like she used to with the dogs when they were around. When Maria and Gerd were here Harlequin happened to be sitting in front of the garage when Rudolpho came running up in a fever of chasing. So she lifted her paw and smacked him one! Rudolpho has since made a wide berth around her, but only around her. His urge to pursue continues .... 27.5.04 Nests all over the place You will remember how I found our first runner duck nest, the one among the brambles, and how I had seen the ducks beforehand standing and looking at a particular spot chattering away. For some time now I've been able to note this behaviour at several more places in the garden: at the top edge of the horse field, at the broom (where Gertie had already been busying herself), in the dark area where we border on to the post office and at several spots between the sweet smelling Viburnum and the low, wide spreading Lonicera shrub, right between the webbed-feet-flattened (unfortunately!) Sweet Williams. It always starts with a consultation. All four of them are standing at a spot chosen by Gertie or Pearl and stare at it. Two harsh noises like "caw, caw", followed by "natter, natter, natter" are repeated several times. I imagine they're saying "is this a good place?" "Hmm, hmm, I'm not sure. Do you think it's hidden well enough?" "And do you think you can hollow it out well enough with all those roots and ivy there?" Of all the nests that were started only two are in use at the moment, as far as I know, the one under the broom and that at the foot of the Viburnum. Both of them very nicely hollowed out, and this morning I saw Gertie disappear in the latter. I had cleaned out the duck house and was taking the bucket to the compost heap, passing within view of that place. I could just see Gertie's head peeping out. On my way back from the compost heap (where Harlequin had curled up in the warm grass cuttings) I saw the other three marching up from the frog pond. They were making calling noises and I could hear Gertie's somewhat subdued answers. The egg I fetched out of there afterwards I put in with the other four in the "incubator". A few days ago I was reading on one of the runner duck web sites that it takes 25 days for ducklings to hatch, and not only should one turn the eggs twice a day but should also keep them damp. Since then I put water in the bottom of the basket and spray the eggs. Keep your fingers crossed that it'll work out! 27.5.04 (Helmut's reply) It seems to me that Rudolpho is a very peculiar specimen of runner duck. Does he deviate from type or is he a born rowdy? Maybe he feels himself to be the "leader of the pack" and wants to show the others what he can do. It's just as you say, every day brings something new with the animals, and it is very interesting to follow it all. The cat showed you what Rudolpho is in need of, a smack round the ear! Also interesting is the thing with the nests. Could it be that Rudolpho is chasing you because you are stealing the eggs? We're crossing all available digits for the success of the hatching! 29.5.04 No egg again in the duck house this morning, John went. He was busy in the garden all morning while I was baking. About mid-morning John went to the Viburnum nest to see if there was an egg, and saw a cock pheasant sitting in it. Well, would you believe it! Now it is gone nine o' clock in the evening, and John hasn't seen an egg anywhere all day except left-over shells in the field. I really do believe, just like you suggest, that Rudolpho is a born rowdy. I don't think his persecution mania is because of the eggs, because he started before then. It cannot be a mere male trait, either, because Valentino never does it. Apart from that, V. has recently shown himself to be the stronger of the two. We all have different personalities, runner ducks too, it would appear. It is now 10 am Saturday morning. I let the ducks out just after 9 - no eggs. The girls went straight up to the Viburnum nest, though. Just now I fetched a warm egg out of the nest, and a cold one which was lying nearby on a bare bit of soil! I went straight into the house with them, and realized in front of the garage that Rudolpho was at my heels. So I turned around and spoke to him, and he ran back to the others quite peaceably.