A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Anas platyrhynchos
Spring has finally come to Switzerland and my local pond is again occupied by a female mallard and her ducklings. Males now reside on a separate pond. Two weeks ago she had seven but when these pictures were taken there were only six left. Find out more in the notes!
A large pond with reeds and dense vegetation, alt. 1300m. The pond is very deep and more than 5000 years old. It is protected and registered in the Swiss national inventory of amphibians reproduction sites. Several rare and endangered vegetal and animal species live in this protected area.
When seeking out a suitable nesting site, the female mallard prefers areas that are well concealed, inaccessible to ground predators, or have few predators nearby. I did see raptors on the day of my first visit, hence the declining number of ducklings I guess…The ducklings are precocious and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch. However, they stay near the mother for warmth, protection and to learn about and remember their habitat as well as how and where to forage for food. In the last picture the ducklings have ventured in dense vegetation and the mother is stretching out her neck to keep an eye on them. When ducklings mature into flight-capable juveniles, they will learn about and remember their traditional migratory routes. I’ll be following this brood with fingers crossed for a while.
Spotted on May 24, 2012
Submitted on May 30, 2012
21 Comments
Thanks Mayra!
Prety!!
thanks! :)
You don't need to delete the mission Eva, you can edit it. Go to the mission. On the right hand side you'll find an option to edit. Click, change what you need and just save changes.
thanks you a lot! but how can i change the items on the mission created or should i delete the mission?thank you very much!!great help!
Thank you Eva!
I have just had a look at your mission. It would be fine. The problem is that it somehow duplicates an already existing mission created by one of our Spanish rangers:
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/9014...
If you go under Missions and select local, you should be able to see all the existing missions within your range including this one. Is there a way you could make your mission more specific, as in for instance concentrating on special organisms or a more restricted geographical area?
oh!it's really nice
One question (if you can) i create a mission but i don't know if it is welldone...i want to do it the good way! can you tell me?
And can I change the words i wrote??
Thank you!!!
Thank you Christy! This female has chosen a good spot: fish in this pond is small, and gulls won't go so far inland and at altitude. But hawks, eagles and foxes are there... I'll count the ducklings again next week:-)
So adorable! I love the red lily pads in the first pic...beautiful! I know if there are big fish in the lake/pond, they can snatch ducklings too!! Gulls will take them also...it's sad but prey species have evolved to be so prolific! Hopefully the remaining 6 will make it! Great series, Daniele.
Emma, I thought you might find this intersting: according to this reference the sex ratio in mallard in 1.27:1 (males:females):
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40...
Thanks Satyen! Each year I know I will upset myself if I count them. That's nature!
Cute spotting and nice information! Sorry for the ducklings :-(
Lovely
Thank you Ismael!
Lovely series, cuteness everywhere
I fully agree Emma! I almost anticipated you would like these:-)
Here's a juvenile from last year's brood on the same pond, a female I think: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/663...
It is awesome that we can share something common from all over the world.
This is my third experience,
The first was when Arlanda , Sachin and I had the newly sprouting "Elm Seeds" Spottings.
Then it was the "Stinkhorn" spottings from all over,happening in the same time frame and now it is a pleasure to see this" Mallard Duckling" phenomenon from a different part of the world ,happening at nearly the same time.
It would be nice to see what they turn into ,a male or a female., since the plumages of both are so distinct.
Karen, Emma, Stian, thanks!
Fantastic pictures Daniele!
Thanks for sharing!!
Gorgeous!