… to the Traralgon Railway Reservoir Conservation
Reserve, (the Res), the other day while Glen caught the train to grand-child
central.
G’day,
The Res is right on the edge of town,
surrounded by houses on three sides. The reserve is maintained principally by
volunteers and is always a great spot for lunch, or breakfast in this case, if
you are ever in town.
The usual collections of waterfowl are
always on display – swamphens, coots, moorhens, various ducks and a few ferals,
(as always), often a darter or two, nearly always a cormorant, swans, etc. The
surrounding bush will often yield pardalotes, honeyeaters, wrens, whistlers and more
and the bare limbs of the higher trees are often adorned with a watchful
raptor. All this in the middle of town!
On this occasion, I was intrigued by the
shenanigans at the nest boxes. Many ducks are opportunistic nesters and on this
winters morning there was some pressure on the available accommodation. While some just
snoozed on …
… and others just cruised about …
… Mrs Black Duck was trying a box for size
while Mrs Chestnut Teal and Mr Black Duck waited patiently for her decision.
Well, that's my interpretation of matters anyhow!
Regards,
Gouldiae.
Hi Gouldiae
ReplyDeleteHow did you fare with the Earthquake?
.
Incidentally, I suspect your snoozing ducks are some of the Ferals, or at least hybrids.
Yellow legs are supposedly the tell-tale sign. Any male Mallards around?
.
Cheers
And stay safe and stay dry.
Its seems it has all be happening down your way, recently.
Cheers
Denis
G'day Denis,
ReplyDeleteYep, have to have some Mallard in them for sure. Seems hard to find pure Blacks around here actually.
The tremor was fun. Shook things up a bit. No damage. Strong enough to make me want to avoid all the big ones we see on the news!
Regards,
Gouldiae