Duck Watching

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 18 September 2008
Location: Slightly southwest of the bridge to the east of Goudy's
Time: 935 to 959
Weather: Overcast, cloudy, 56˚F

The mallards intrigued me in the morning. At about 750, I discovered a majority of them swimming in the water and dunking their entire heads into the Mill Stream in search of insects. They were situated about the Jackson plaza area, but 2 hours later, I found half of them downstream directly to the north of the entrance to Putnam. The other half, primarily females, sat on the lawn near Putnam, all staring lazily at the water. In the past, I found them on the opposite shore, near Smith’s, but perhaps that was due to the bright sunlight? The weather today is overcast so they wouldn’t have needed the shade from the cedars opposite them. Why don’t they look around at the students passing noisily by? Were they observing their mates and friends? Did they just find nothing interesting to look at and faced the water out of ennui? Occasionally, a drake would upend into the water. How they keep their balance amazes me, for I would most likely have sank or fallen back. I see now; it propels hard with its feet to exert enough force to maintain its verticality. A loud quack was suddenly issued like a newsboy shouting the current events. Was that in response to a passing crow? As a drake cleaned its right wing, I could see its tail was completely black and the wings had a streak of iridescent colorings. Preoccupied, it gently floated off course toward me downstream. During the past minutes, I feel that the mallards have been steadily moving toward me downstream. A drake I noticed was moving in a weird little bob or performing “the wave”, finally ending by beating its wings emphatically, settling down, and shaking its tail.