Duck on deck (2007-06-10)

(Originally posted on Sunday. 10 June 2007.)

The neighbourhood is teeming with wildlife!! Well, “teeming” is a slight exaggeration… but still…

On Sunday Giggles and I were relaxing on the deck at the end of a busy afternoon, when she noticed one of the neighbourhood ducks coming down the street. A duck family is nesting in the pond about a block away, beside the small urban forest. We occasionally see them swimming on the pond, flying overhead, or exploring the neighbourhood, and this spring Mama and Papa Mallard have eight little ducklings.

Now here came Mama Mallard out for an evening stroll. She was walking very close to our side of the street so we went to the edge of the deck and watched her. She passed the deck and came onto the lawn and then, lo an behold, started to climb up the ramp that leads up to the deck! Giggles ran inside to get some bread and I got my camera. Mama Mallard came right up onto our deck – in fact it almost looked like she was going to come right into the house through the open screen door! – and Giggles knelt by the screen door and threw bits of bread out for her to eat. Mama Mallard seemed quite happy for these morsels, and munched happily away. After a good ten minutes or so, she waddled over to the edge of the deck where we have some planter bottoms (for making water gardens, playing in, and so on) which happened to be half full of water from the previous day’s rain. There she dipped her beak into the water and took a bit of a drink. We fed her some more before she waddled down the ramp and sat on our grass.







Giggles by screen door while Mama Mallard investigates the deck.
















Hello, Mama Mallard! Nice of you to visit us this afternoon.


















Thanks for the drink. It's very refreshing on a hot day.

















Would you like some bread, too, Mama Mallard?

Yum! I love bread!

What? No more for me?

While she sat on the grass, Giggles got some more of the planter bottoms, filled them with water, and put one down at the bottom of the ramp. Mama Mallard nibbled some grass, had another drink, and soaked a few crusty pieces of bread in the water before slurping them down. Then she went bck to resting in the grass.






So, Mama Mallard, how do you like our lawn?

It's very comfy, thanks!

We got out our lounge chair and books and sat to read stories where we could see Mama Mallard. While she sat there, three crows came and harassed her a bit, cawing at her from the garage roof and the big rock on the corner of the property, but Mama Mallard just ignored them. Then, while she was resting and the crows were haranguing, on the other side of the street Giggles spotted a rabbit hopping down the street. She’d seen this rabbit once before coming out of the yard across the street and hopping over lawns and driveways. Soon it disappeared into another yard.

Where's a good hiding spot?
There are too many dogs in this neighbourhood!

Meanwhile, Mama Mallard sat placidly on our lawn, where she stayed a good hour while we read stories. Finally – when storytime was over – she stood up and waddled back down the street, and we went in to bed.