Honey is back!

October 15, 2018 • 9:30 am

Well, this is absolutely beyond belief. Anna reports that Honey has returned to the pond—and to James. To quote her:

Honey is back and James seems quite happy. I’m concerned about the disgusting film in the pond though. What do you think it is?

Perhaps Billzebub proved too aggressive for her, or she got hungry (she looks a bit thin). I’m not sure what Anna means about the “film” on the pond, but it could be that white stuff on the surface at the top of the first two pictures. Readers?

First, a video of the loving couple reunited, taken by Anna. She is sure from Honey’s behavior and bill markings that it really is her. I’m very pleased.

Three photos:

And so the soap opera continues: As the Pond Turns.

43 thoughts on “Honey is back!”

  1. Well, if there’s one thing we know from all James Pond films – he gets the girl in the end.

  2. What kind of mushy sentimental person am I anyway?? Here I am rejoicing that a duck in Chicago has come back to the pond and her boyfriend and caregiving professor (who is away right now) and his assistant. With all the crappy news I hear (and today’s dreary weather in central PA) I am delighted to be uplifted.

    2. And I (near Pittsburgh) am uplifted that there’s someone in central PA who, in contrast to certain relatives, finds all the news crappy.

    3. Well I don’t care what anyone else thinks! I needed some good news today, and I think this is wonderful!!!

      I’m so pleased the good guys won out in the end. (James and Jerry of course.)

  3. It looks a bit foamy to me, but hard to tell from photos. If it’s foam, here is something I found about that…
    “Foam is a common problem in both outdoor and indoor fountains, usually caused by an excess of proteins and other organic compounds left behind by bacteria, plants, or animals. The compounds form a slick layer on the surface, which is then churned up into foam by the splashing water.”

  5. In picture 3, the white foam in the background looks like excess organic waste in the water. A lot of duck food not eaten by ducks or turtles? Nothing but a distant guess.

  6. Good grief! Honey’s story is beginning to sound like Madame Bovary, or something. Madame Mallard?

  8. Like most (but not all) girls, Honey probably found the bad boy too much after awhile. Bad boys are exciting, sexy and fun at first, but eventually, a girl has come back to reality and to the good duck, James. Might not be as heady as hanging with the fast crowd, but it’s a lot safer, and the food is better.

  11. You had mentioned earlier, the pond was fed by a pump. Made some noise you could hear in the video. Maybe recycling the water so if there is some organic items in the water the pump might cause the foaming. Some type of filter might help?

  12. Typical: wife leaves for a while to return and find husband made a mess of the house.
    It would be helpful to have a closer up view of the scum or even better a microscopic examination, but this is what I found for whitish pond scum: Microcystis algae can change from white to green and have a gas vescicle that allows them to regulate buoyancy, migrate through the water column and pop up at the surface (can produce a toxin); protozoa, of no real concern; floating pollen if there are any fall pollinating plants around the pond.

  13. Listening carefully to the audio on the video, I’m sure that I can hear duck vocalizations as they circle the food. Not quacks, just duck sounds. I wonder if it’s just James, or both of them? And are they’re usually that vocal when feeding?

    1. Nothing is heading south yet. Not sure where you live, but at this latitude, migration has not begun. It usually does not get underway in earnest until November. The weather is still fine.

    1. Or maybe he flew inside another set of window bars (as is his wont) and there was no benevolent biology professor to set him free this time.

    1. Teddy Roosevelt (of whom Henry Clay Frick said, “We bought the son of a bitch but he didn’t stay bought,” would be appalled. Note Herbert Hoover looking from beside the column, unimpressed.

    2. Kinda fun, actually, but something that belongs more fittingly in a basement rec room than the Oval Office.

    1. NO! See above. Not time yet. I will be happy to post once the skies are full of migrating birds. I am surrounded by forest preserves. The migration is unmistakable.

        1. Don’t forget the geese. The migration does not take that long. According to this article, they can fly up to 800 miles in one eight hour day. I assume that is with a strong tail wind.
          https://americanexpedition.us/learn-about-wildlife/mallard-duck-facts-information/

          I don’t know about ducks, but many geese fly at night, beginning at dusk. Supposedly, they do not like thermals. Good for circling effortlessly like a raptor but they interfere with flight. Also, fewer predators.

          I have seen some skeins (actual name of the flying vee) but I am not sure if it is actual migration or birds gathering in preparation for migration. The skeins I have seen are small. Once migration starts, they are huge. Over a hundred birds.

  22. So the BBD (bigger and better deal) turned out to be less than met the eye. I blame all this on PCC(e) and Anna. They were so over the top in their approval for James that Honey rebelled. If PCC(e) and Anna had disapproved strongly of James, Honey would have cemented her bond with him a long time ago.

  23. The water in Botany Pond is regular Chicago tap water. Comes out of Lake Michigan, is treated – yes there is some chlorine and fluoride in the water. Others have stated that the chemicals pose no threat to wildlife. There is a regular flow of fresh water into the pond. One winter, someone shut off the flow, the pond froze and all the fish died.

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