September09
Tuesday, 1st
In the mornings now you'd never know that Candida had a leg problem, she runs like a top with the others and is usually first in the pond. At night you can still detect a limp, but I'm sure that will be gone very soon. I still don't know if she trod on wasps or thorns or what it was ................. but the hole where the ground wasps go in and out busily from dawn to dusk appears to be getting larger ...
Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, we went walking in Bradgate Park with John's Church group. I saw lots and lots of ducks and put together a little collage:
Delightful creatures, ducks, aren't they?
Sunday, 6th September 2009
Tuesday, 8th September 2009
Very embarrassing - on Sunday I wanted to write something about how I'd seen the two groups running together, and then couldn't find the few photos I'd taken through a murky window pane. After some searches I've found them now:
You can always tell big Hedda - second from left in the photo above - who moves, to my eyes, like a stately galleon among the others.
The photos were taken last Thursday, 3rd. Sadly, I've not spotted all 11 together since, not up here by the house, anyway. They all spend some time near and on the big duck pond, but the top lot are not quite at ease there yet.
Sunday, 20th September 2009
I have seen all 11 together many times now, usually accompanied by lots of noise and protests from one side or the other. Yesterday I even had the camera with me while gathering flowers and berries for the Harvest decorations in John's church.
The noise of a big fight alerted me - 2 of the white girls were going at it hammer and tongs, they were two far away from me to tell which 2 and the telephoto lens didn't make things clearer, either:
After a little time I could see that everyone, still arguing, had reached the frog pond with the food box of the 7 - which was raided - and then all 11 slowly made their way back towards the duck pond. I shot a few photos of them, none particularly good, but I was pleased to capture them together.
In
the picture above all 3 boys are standing up together with Fanny in front
of Captain. He is the only one who has come through the moult looking
nice and glossy and his two curly tail feathers are back. I had hoped
to show them in this photo on the left but I cut him in half, I'm sorry!
This photo is a bit better, you can just see the curls, can't you?
The four duck pond 'locals' were soon back at their pond; the others were a bit cautious in their approach. First they made a stop where I was picking flowers [this was near the ground wasp nest - you can see I haven't quite dared to go on with my dead-heading and weeding session there], and then a further stop a bit nearer the pond:
Eventually they all made it down to the duck pond. 3 girls from the top lot, Fanny, Primmie and Rellchen on the left here, were discussing whether to raid the food box but didn't dare without help from their men.
These spent some time staring at the water before plucking up the courage to dive in.
Tuesday, 29th September 2009
It's been a VERY busy week last week, and this one promises to be even busier as work on the new bathroom is going to start in earnest.
As for the ducks, today is the second time they've been together ALL day at the duck pond. The more timid ducks like Rellchen have been standing on the edge looking on and keeping out of trouble, until I turn up with food or water. Then they're all in together and suffer the odd peck or two from the more dominant ones.
I cleaned the little pond this morning, but changed my normal procedure of shovelling out the stinky gloopy residue at the bottom by getting the thin nozzle of the water hose on to the pump when it threatened to clog and also thinning down the thick stuff at the bottom. That was a lot cleaner and easier than spending hours lugging buckets of black gloop out and finding places to deposit it. I think I shall employ the same method for the other ponds - it saves my back!
Around lunch time on a very cloudy and windy day the sun broke through and I went down to the duck pond with fresh water and the camera. Everybody still standing on the side immediately dived in, and I was rather chuffed with some of the photos I took. I'll just put in four, but they are rather larger than normal!
If they're going to continue spending all their time down there I shall be moaning like mad because I don't see them near the house any more .............................. never satisfied, eh?