'Our' Mallard visitors
Mallards are not domesticated ducks, but are the forefathers of all of them except Muscovies. The birds pictured here are not 'owned' by us, they just thought they'd like to nest in our field. Plenty of food and water, and good recommendations from the resident flock probably swayed their minds.
We had been chasing them off for a couple of weeks at least. We thought we had succeeded with the duck as we had only seen the drake recently. That was until Chris started clearing the nettles from around the bonfire and the duck flew up in his face. He had only been a few feet away but had no idea she was there.
Can you spot her in this photograph? She is there honestly. There is a closer view if you move the curser over the picture.
This one is easier and again there is a closer view if you move the curser over the picture.
It's
a good job we didn't light the bonfire!