Quack

Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)

When we lost several of our trees to the big windstorm last autumn, Mike took the opportunity to finally put in the pond he's been talking about for years. It's a reasonably big one, particularly considering that he dug it out by hand – it's roughly 7ft x 10ft (2m x 3.5m) and ranges in depth from a few inches to nearly two feet. The water has already attracted plenty of wildlife, most of it small and six-legged. Yesterday, it attracted something considerably larger: when we went out before supper to do some path mowing, we found a pair of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) sizing up the scenery. Apparently they liked what they saw. After a bit of preening and splashing around, they waddled around the garden checking out various flower beds and corners. Eventually, Mrs. Mallard took a snooze right in the middle of one of the paths, while her mate stood wary guard. They even hung around while Mike mowed along the other side of the garden, shuffling a few feet at a time as he edged closer. They really didn't want to leave, but finally had enough of the noisy machine. We can't decide whether or not to hope they'll be back. We'd love it if they gobbled up some of the burgeoning algal mat, but we're worried they might munch our trio of Smooth Newts as well.

Mallards are probably among the UK's best-known birds, and certainly the most widely-known of the ducks. They're pretty much ubiquitous across the islands, found in ponds, lakes, broads, quags and puddles everywhere but Scotland's highest peaks. They pair up in late autumn, staying together until the female has laid her eggs. This she does sometime between mid-March and the end of July, laying one egg every other day until she has her full clutch of roughly 12. In total, they'll weigh almost half as much as she does! Well before the young have hatched, the male will go off to moult, leaving the female to raise the ducklings on her own. She too will moult as she raises her brood, losing her ability to fly for a few weeks as she does so. Maybe we'll see them again in the garden before that happens.