 They returned several times on the 18th to 21st March Fred saw Mr and Mrs Duck for the first time on 23rd March and this photo of them was taken on the 24th. This is the seventh year that they have visited us.  On 3rd April Little Curl returned alone. We haven't seen his mate, Oneleg, again. On 12th April Mrs and Mrs Duck stayed a long time.  Soon after this they disappeared, but they reappeared at the end of May. By that time we had another very friendly female who looks very like Mrs Duck, just to confuse things. Other regulars have reappeared, particularly Notail (or Halftail - depending on how much of a tail he's got), and Mr Gap who now gets his own webpage. Another regular has been Limpy, who is quite possibly the same as Mr Verynervous. We think we are now getting regular visits from at least 4 females, but it is hard to tell them apart. Mr and Mrs Duck try to hide when other drakes appear. In this picture Mr Duck is trying to pretend he isn't there by flattening himself on the ground while a drake flies overhead.  Our maximum number at one time so far this year was on 16th June when there were 15 drakes outside at 5:30 am.  A new character to appear was the starling feather-collector, who must have had a beautiful nest.  |