Mr & Mrs Duck

Mr & Mrs Duck were taking an evening stroll on a blustery Wednesday evening.

Well actually, they were young enough to be just doing a bit of courting.

I first spotted them in the triangular ‘meadow’ at the top of the lane – not much of a meadow yet, showing no signs of any spring growth, just some sad grass, bare earth & last year’s dead dock & plantain. A long way from any water.

He gobbled at the grass in a desultory way, but did not seem to find much there to eat. So they set off across the road. My heart was in my mouth for a moment as a car turned off the main road – had the driver spotted them round the bend – yes, all was well, he slowed & went round them.

They found a way to squeeze through a hole in the wall & onto the piece of land on that side of the lane. Were they going to visit the geese who are housed there by a squatter – it is one of those pieces of land whose ownership is not clear following the mid-C19th rush to speculate on which route the railway would take, & then just abandoned or forgotten about once the line was settled on several yards to the east. But no, they stayed well away from them & seemed to be headed for the main road & a wander even further up the hill.

The wind was too fierce for me to want to hang around watching the any longer.

Related post
Triangular meadow

Duck report

I saw ducks in the stream this weekend – lower down the lane, not opposite the house. First sighting this year.

Only a small group, & three of them were white. Very unusual for round here. I wonder if the snow has anything to do with that.