In lieu of the usual photos from readers, I’ll show today some pictures of my wildlife family: the ducks of Botany Pond. Here are photos from the first two years I met Honey and tended her brood: 2017 and 2018.
They may refurbish the pond next year, which would mean a sad season without ducks. Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Below: the first time I met Honey, in 2017. She had four ducklings, and I don’t know if had more hatched but died. These four grew up and fledged:
A selfie with Honey:
Later: hardly distinguishable from Mom:
Showing the Lab School students how to feed the ducks:
Honey’s brood in 2018: eight, now being fed regularly. They all fledged.
Later:
On the duck ramp; the first year we had one made:
Growing up:
And, with feathers, at the awkward teenage stage:
Almost ready to fly, but still stuck to Mom:
Mom, free at last:
My sweet hen, here doing her soccer ball imitation:
Delightful review – looking forward to the New Year of adventures at the pond!
Lovely photos – I don’t think I’ve seen the very early ones of Honey before.
These are good memories.
I am reminded of the recent PBS documentary My Life as a Turkey. It’s about a man with some very solid academic training (I don’t know the details), and he raises a family of wild turkeys. It is absolutely beautiful and riveting.
We’re buried in snow here in the PNW, so it’s nice to see some warm weather photos of Honey and her progeny and caretaker(s).
Off topic, but Happy Orbit, Doc!
Same birthday as Helen, btw. We will raise a glass or four in your honor this evening!
I would said autumn – Fall if you must – is the best time to do work on the pond.
‘..refurbish the pond..’ has an unpleasant feel. Since it was your ethological studies of the ducks that brought the pond to the attention of a wider public, one hopes you will be consulted to some degree. Who are ‘they’ I wonder? Your studies show how a slimy backwater can be turned into a treasure for the edification of the many; leave the slime alone!