Country Mouse Out for a duck

THE mallard is one of the few birds almost everyone can identify as a duck, but did you know that ducks quack and drakes hiss? The drake is something of a dandy, with his orange leggings and a black, cream and white shirt, set off with a green turban and (generally) yellow beak. Drakes are not fussy lovers and so, due to interbreeding with domestic ducks, some beaks are more greenish. Drakes also tend to outnumber ducks due to the drowning of many females during the frenzy of mating; over-enthusiasm from several males can be catastrophic.

However, the duck in her autumn finery of shades of brown, with her flash of wing-tip azure, is a thing of beauty. Many therapists would have a field day with the mothering abilities of a mallard duck: she’s pretty hopeless. However, by having huge broods, many survive and, to be fair, she will pretend to be injured to lure predators from her babies. The trouble is, she can’t count.

Remarkably, a pair has taken up residence below the bird feeder at the cottage. It’s a smart move, as the nuthatch is such a particularly messy eater that seeds regularly cascade down to them. She’s incredibly bossy to the pheasants, he’s more interested in preening.