As a contrast to the fighting poultry of a few days ago, here, a much more serene couple. Little to see today, a second day in a row spent mostly working at home with grey light — declining daylight and a longish zoom account for this shot’s lack of focus.
The muscovy ducks on the marina were getting aggressive this afternoon. Two began fighting, I assume over the third, all-white one (a female?) visible in the background of this shot, looking on while the battle she has provoked rages in her honour. Couldn’t alter the camera settings quickly enough to have a chance of capturing the shot with any sharpness, considering how fast they were moving in the low light. But what gets me about it is their placid-looking smiley faces, which here persist even when a rival is pecking on one’s back.
Pictured on the Hebden Water this afternoon. A sunny day but a damn cold one, certainly the coldest so far in 2014.
In recent months the Muscovy duck which has featured several times on this blog has been joined by four more, all said to have escaped (or been deliberately released) from a duck farm nearby — which is probably where the ‘original’ one came from as well, as this species is not native to Europe. However, if there are both boys and girls in the flock now, who knows, perhaps we could start a whole new Yorkshire colony. This is one of the newer ones, taking a drink on a Saturday afternoon.
It is over two years since this creature set up home in Hebden Bridge marina, first appearing on the blog in February 2012. As I have observed before, it is a long way from its natural home. I saw it standing outside the entrance to the tourist information office this afternoon, and thought at first that it was after food or something, but looking at this shot I wonder whether it might not just have been finding company in its reflection. This is the Muscovy duck’s fourth appearance on the blog (the remaining unlinked one is here) — few people have been on it as often.
Why did the ducks and Canada goose cross the road? To get to the other side, of course.
Glorious afternoon today, with sunlight streaming onto the allotments in late afternoon. Our neighbours (garden-wise) are much more organised than us. The green netting is evidence of that alone, but look — they have poultry. Why don’t we have poultry?
This Muscovy duck now lives permanently by the canal in the centre of town, opposite the Railway pub. (The wood beneath it on this photo is the gate of the dry dock.) It has been here for nearly two years now, and this is its third appearance on the blog, making it the first animal to definitively appear on here three times (as many times as my mother-in-law, I note…). According to Avian Web, the species is native to South America but is spreading through North America. It is certainly not native to the UK, or even Europe. Either it got blown a long way from home or — more likely — it is an escaped pet. It seems to have found for itself an amenable spot to retire to, either way.
‘”Nice weather for ducks”, they said. “Come to sunny Yorkshire”, they said. Well, this sucks. And all my friends have buggered off to Spain this morning without me.’
Despite being there this morning as well Blackpool fails to trouble the blog at all, and may well now never do so. Here we are back in familiar territory, all enjoying a gorgeous day, including the Muscovy duck who seems to have stuck around for the last 18 months since it last appeared on the blog in far less clement conditions.
Being 42 