Tag Archives: muscovy duck

Early Morning Rat Run

January 8, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

No this isn’t a post about rush hour commuter habits, but the title is certainly true. It was early morning… sunrise to be exact and one of the local rats takes a complicated route around the edge of the pond.

Sunrise at Falmer

And it was a rat run (with a touch of swimming thrown in). The rat first appeared at the opening to one of the burrowed holes in the bank of the pond.

Rats

With nowhere else to go, the first stage of the journey was by water.

Rats

The destination, a nearby rock that is still just about breaking the surface.

Rats

From there it was up and over the tree roots and down to a small area of what passes for solid ground. Time for a brief rest.

Rats

And then back to the hard business of swimming into the thicker cover where there are more underground runs where it could relax safely away from human eyes and camera lenses.

Rats

This being something of a reflection on yesterday’s post, I’m pleased to say that I have proof of the flying prowess of the Muscovy ducks. Both made a short flight across the pond. This is the female turning in for splashdown.

Muscovy duck (female) in flight

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

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Muscovy Ducks

January 7, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

Falmer pond remains in danger of overflowing, and the surrounding grass banks are sodden. In other words, it’s almost perfect conditions for ducks and none more so than this jaunty pair of Muscovy ducks.

Muscovy ducks

They first appeared at the pond in 2013 but have become firm fixtures, either waddling on the banks (as here), or paddling their way across the water. They can fly (which seems an almost impossible task when you see them), but I suspect their range may be limited. As ducks go they are very human-friendly which makes me think that hey were originally farm birds. They expect to be fed and rush (as best they can) to any passing walker. I’m not a good bet though, as I never feed the wildlife at the pond.

This is the female…

Female Muscovy duck

And the male…

Male Muscovy duck

Male Muscovy duck

Further round the pond, I spotted another regular sitting precariously above the water.

Rat

The rat eventually made the decision to take the short swim across to a slightly more densely covered area where it scurried into the bank and out of the wet.

Rat swimming

Pretty is still waving the flag for the local foxes. Here she is in the garden in the earlier hours of Tuesday morning.

fox

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, apart from the one of Pretty the fox which was taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.

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More from the Pond

November 14, 2013 by Words | Comments Off

After yesterday’s cormorant fest I thought I’d take a look at some of the other birds that brighten up the pond at this time of year. The first couple of photos were taken yesterday, the rest are from today.

Few birds make more of a mark than this extravagant and noisy Muscovy drake.

Muscovy duck

The more common mallards are there as well, but they sometimes need the help of lighting to really look their best. This is an early morning shot of a female mallard.

Mallard

Winter is on its way and the black-headed gulls having discarded their summer plumage (the black head) and are now dressed for the season.

Black-headed gulls

The collared doves just ruffle their feathers to get in the seasonal mood.

Collared doves

And in case you were wondering, the cormorant is still there; and still laying claim to the prime location on the pond.

Cormorant

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

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