Reader Joe Dickinson sends us this:
I know Jerry is fond of ducklings, so here is a family of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) caught on June 23rd and again on the 27th near the mouth of Aptos Creek, CA. The growth (and change in plumage) over just four days is quite noticeable.
Mallards are distributed fairly widely, so keep an eye out for them.
I have a couple of pairs of Mallards that frequent my relatively small garden. They make their nest somewhere else though. The yard is very lush and safe from predators, save for neighbours’ cats, so the birds love it there (as do the voles and moles all year, squirrels and raccoons mostly in the winter, and possums before the open field was developed).
How’d those little buggers get to Australia?
Oh. Quantas.
Qantas. It’s actually an acronym; it stands for “Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service”.
I did not know that!
Osprey cam live! They’re visible right now. http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=64&Sub1=7
Earlier, two parents in the nest with the two chicks and now at 4:57pm EST, one parent with the chicks. So cute!
Here in South Australia we have Anas supersiliosa (they have ‘eyebrows’). If I recall correctly a study some years ago found that female A. supersiliosa prefer male Anas platyrhynchos, so there are also a number of hybrids here.