{"id":26174,"date":"2017-10-05T00:06:36","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T23:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/?p=26174"},"modified":"2017-10-05T00:06:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T23:06:36","slug":"october-ducklings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/october-ducklings\/","title":{"rendered":"October Ducklings!"},"content":{"rendered":"

About a month since my last post and I really wouldn’t have guessed that I’d be writing about ducklings in October, but I am.<\/p>\n

It was at my old haunt at Falmer Pond. I was there this morning before work. The heron was about, some greylags were congregating on the water, gulls were circling… and a female duck was taking four tiny ducklings out for a swim. So far as I know this is wildly out of season. Ducklings normally hatch in late spring to early summer, but these are no more than a few days old. They are either a very late 2017 brood… or possibly an early 2018 clutch! Either way, they were an unexpected delight! <\/p>\n

These are Indian Runner ducks (or a hybrid variety). They are permanent residents at the pond (the first adults arrived a few years ago, and I think the mother may be a second generation pond inhabitant). The original adults were quite possibly domestic birds that were ‘relocated’ to the pond. With luck the youngster will survive and put on weight before winter. <\/p>\n

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Ducklings in October at Falmer Pond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Foraging at the edge of the pond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Three Ducklings in a row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Duckling making a splash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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And lastly a portrait of the local heron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a month since my last post and I really wouldn’t have guessed that I’d be writing about ducklings in October, but I am. It was at my old haunt at Falmer Pond. I was there this morning before work. The heron was about, some greylags were congregating on the water, gulls were circling… and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[980,989],"tags":[249,1099],"class_list":["post-26174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds-2","category-water-birds-birds-2","tag-ducklings","tag-grey-heron","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t