I’m just quackers for ducks!

EVERYONE knows a friendly mallard, or two, or three. You know the ones that come charging over when you stand at a lake’s edge?

Mallards are pretty much our favourite duck and we have been feeding them from our pondside benches for years. That is probably why most of them are completely tame.

Familiarity can breed contempt but give them a break, they are a beautiful dabbling duck. The male is magnificent during the breeding season with a shiny green head, maroon-brown chest, yellow bill and curly black feathers above the tail. Females are brown and mottled but still lovely creatures.

We have about 5,000 in the North West and more than 60,000 in the UK, but they can be found right across Europe, Asia and North America.

They have also been introduced to South Africa and Australia.

Mallards cause some concern during the breeding season when males violently assault females. It isn’t nice to watch but, unfortunately, it is natural and there is a bright side.

A couple of weeks later ducks will lay eggs and then wonderful balls of yellow fluff will be hatched. Soon they will be following mum along the banks of lakes and rivers making a lovely ‘peep, peep, peep’ call. I call them peepers.

Mallard numbers in Lancashire have been swelled by thousands which were released for shooting over the decades. So they can be pretty much found quacking and peeping everywhere in the region.

It is heartening to see so many people wanting to feed our ducks but there is an embarrassing problem. Most people are feeding them the wrong stuff. Feeding bread to any wild bird is like giving them fast food – it has little nutritional value and can just give them health problems.

It makes it really difficult to approach people to tell them they are doing wrong when it seems so right. This may be the feeder’s only engagement with nature or, even worse, it may be their first encounter with something wild. Telling them they are not doing the right thing just looks bad.

But, at the end of the day, it is necessary. We need to ensure mallards are fed seed, which may cost a bit more than bread. In the real wild they tend to eat berries, water plants, insects and even shellfish.

If they eat the right things it means they are healthy and so are those delightful little peepers busily pleasing us throughout spring and summer.

● The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The Trust has 29,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers.

● To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www.lancswt.org. uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.