Sunday, October 21, 2012

Splashing around

Oh dear, the ducks have wanderlust! See this field? It's a little wet. The track marks are from the combine harvester that got a bit stuck last week while harvesting soybeans.


Can you see anything unusual?


Oh look, it's Charlie Sheen and three of the girl ducks. And in the far background is a flock of Canada geese!!!



These guys wandered down there and had a ball splashing around!



Charlie enjoyed rooting around in the mud (you can see soybeans that the combine missed on the upper right and left.)



The water was pretty deep in spots. The tile drainage in the this area isn't working particularly well!



Lots of snorkelling and flapping!



Ducks loooooove mud.



They also love water.



Bianca (white duck) had a good scratch. When I went out to check on everyone this afternoon, I looked down in the field and saw Bianca by herself in the midst of a HUGE flock of Canada geese!! I don't really want them mixing with wild birds; that's just an invitation to spread disease. But she seemed quite content and the geese were pretty much ignoring her.

I went down to round her up and all the geese freaked out and flew off in a panicked, honking mass. Bianca stood there calmly and watched them go. I herded up back towards the barn, where Oedipus and Karène came out to greet her. I can only imagine what they had to say to each other:

"Hussy! Hanging with the geese!"

"They're bigger than YOU, Oedipus!"

"Slut!"

"Eunuch!"

"Tart!"

"Castrato!"

"Floozy!"

"Cuckoo!"

Okay, maybe it was more along the lines of "Quack quack quack!" What can I say? I have a vivid imagination.


Heaven for ducks.


I can't say he was particularly clean after splashing around in the muck, but he was awfully happy.





Hannibal looked pleased with himself too.


See? Wanderlust! 

42 comments:

  1. They sure had fun. Love your ducks.

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    1. Me too! How can you be sad when you're watching a duck? :)

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  2. Did you have to bathe them or give them a kiddie pool of water afterwards? They must have been muddy after their romp.

    It looks like they were having a ball. I'm also glad Bianca made some nice goose friends.

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    1. They have a kiddy pool and several other containers of water in their run, although they seemed perfectly happy being filthy!

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  3. Those ducks are really smart. The field was about as good as it gets for ducks. I think it works both ways for passing disease from tame to wild birds.

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    1. Today the resident crows walked over to visit them. Eeek!

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  4. I have every confidence in your translation.

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    Replies
    1. My French is good, so maybe my Duck is passable!

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  5. what wonderful names...how on earth did you come up with them?

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    1. Too much time on my hands! Kidding! Karène was named after my hairdresser. Bianca because she's white and I look at her and think "Blanca", but I like "Bianca" better. Hannibal beause his sibling cannibalized him as a duckling...

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  6. Replies
    1. Just so long as they don't end up covered with sauce IN a pot!

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  7. Your soil looks very dark and fertile. Ours is the soil equivalent of 'mouse'.

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    1. It's not bad here, even though the fields had beans planted on them for SIX years in a row. Far too long to go without crop rotation

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  8. The land everywhere seems to be a bit grumpy at the moment. I like ducks and geesies; I identify closely with the way they walk ...

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    Replies
    1. Got a bit of a waddle, have you?

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  9. Clean and happy doesn't usually appear in the same sentence:))

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    Replies
    1. Definitely not when *I* was a child! :)

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  10. It's so nice to see ducks and geese flapping around in water. They enjoy it so much.

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    Replies
    1. We want to make a real pond for them someday, just down behind the barn. They have so much fun in the water.

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  11. Great pictures and they look very happy.

    Hugs

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  12. Ah does it get any better for a duck!

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    1. Just so long as they don't get eaten by a fox or coyote while gallivanting around out there!

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  13. Anonymous9:44 am

    Duck paradise! And I foresee a book in your future, a tawdry romance about a duck named Bianca and a Canadian bad boy goose that she simply cannot resist because he makes her pin feathers tingle ... : )

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    Replies
    1. Oh my, I'm tingling already! HAHAHAHA!

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  14. What great shots. Some great painting opportunities here. As for the duck conversation, I'm sure you got it exactly right.

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  15. What a fun post and photos! I was smiling the whole time I read it.

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad! They make me smile whenever I'm with them.

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  16. Replies
    1. MY DUCKS love any mud.....regardless of size, smell,consistency or colour

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    2. Mud = duck joy!

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  17. That was too funny. If they were not saying all those things they were thinking them! Love the photos as usual.

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    Replies
    1. I do wonder what goes on in their little heads at times!

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  18. Some ducks really have it made. Maybe if I believe in reintarnation (we're hillbilly Hindus)I can come back as one of your ducks!

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    Replies
    1. Hey, I believe in reintarnation! HAHA!

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  19. It's kind of a domestic duck version of going camping! ~ Maureen

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    1. I do believe you've pegged it, if you'll forgive the tent pun!

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  20. LOL!! You quack me up:-D

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  21. That's almost enough to make you wish you were a duck.

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!