November08

Sunday, 9th

It is really horrible weather outside as I write, with the very heavy rain beating against the windows and it sounds as if there's a gale blowing. It's been like that all afternoon, with the rain so heavy at times I thought the roof of the conservatory would cave in. Something like in this picture from 2005, I feel:

Yes, those pale roundy shapes behind the curtain of thick rain drops were the ducks!

For the first time in years I've put water containers into the two huts. The ducks go in so early these days - about half past four depending on how dark it is, and it does not get light until about quarter past 7 in the morning - that I feel the poor duckies must be gasping for a drink in all those hours cooped up. Also they've had such fierce competition for food these days from what seems hordes of waterhens and pheasants that I even gave them a few grains of wheat in the hut, too.

Thinking back over the last week or so it's been fairly uneventful, although I did get a scare one morning when opening up the bottom hut. There was a big fox sitting about 100 yards away in the field next door, looking at me. I shouted and it disappeared into a hole in the undergrowth. It was exactly the same place where we saw the three young cubs playing last year, there must be a den. All things considered we've been lucky this year - apart from the two ducks that died suddenly of unexplained causes.

Pinky was limping heavily for about three days but has been fine ever since. Well, that's updated you a little bit. Must get back to printing calendars now!

Tuesday, 25th November 2008 Hildegards Geburtstag

What I wrote on the 9th regarding the fierce competition for food the ducks have from whole flocks of pheasants, waterhens and other birds still holds true, there's a great flapping of wings and running of scarpering legs every time one of us shows up in the garden. The poor duckies seem very hungry some evenings - last night I had to go down with extra rations before bedtime as both troughs were empty.

In honour of Hilde's birthday I thought I'd make the effort and take some photos, but I didn't manage that until 20 past 4 when I'd cleaned both huts and squirted water down the molehills [it stops them for a couple of days, then they pop up again, either in some of the most favoured runs or else they make new ones - they/it started on the veg beds now when I was really trying to drive them back into the opposite direction, the grazing fields next door]]. You can see from the photos below how dark it was at that time; I've had to lighten several of them just to be able to see the ducks.

The sky was ablaze when I went down with the camera, 20 past 4, as I said. Our troupe of 12 was in no mood to separate for bedtime yet as they were still going over the bit of ground where I'd scattered the extra rations of rice and mealworms [for extra winter protein] about half an hour before. I finally had to clap my hands and tell them it was time to go. They did, all 12 though, all the way up, past the electric fence, past the big greenhouse and through the gate into the small pond. As they were all up there I decided to put the top lot in first, being as they always get let out first in the mornings. They went quite well, but Anabelle and Pinky went in with the seven .................. only to shoot out again after a couple of seconds. They must have been told quite firmly that this was NOT their hut.

Having shut in the 7 I escorted the 5 back down to their place, and I did allow them a few extra moments to pick over the mealworm/rice patch once more before calling time. It had all gone very well.

[I always love the way Hedda, third from left in this photo, moves like a stately galleon]

I put the camera down after this. As I said, Pinky [the big girl in the picture above] and Anabelle went into this hut where the residents thought they shouldn't have and quickly flew out again.

Altogether it was a very pleasant bedtime ritual.

Good night!