Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

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There's an old Noel Coward song that claims only "mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun". I tested this claim at lunchtime today by walking around the retention ponds at CyFair college - and I found it to be false. In fact, there were no mad dogs and the edges of both ponds were very busy with birds.
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The small pond at the end of the artificial river had a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
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It also had a Great Egret, which was totally unconcerned by my presence.


The two larger ponds each had several Mourning Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Mockingbirds, Killdeer, and a Green Heron.
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One of two Green Herons
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The southern pond also had a pair of Cliff Swallows, one of which was clearly feeling the heat.


My main aim in going to the ponds was to see if our Black-bellied Whistling Ducks had produced any young. At first, I couldn't see any sign of ducklings. But then, two adults led eight ducklings out of the reeds for a leisurely paddle around the pond.
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2 comments:

Dorothy Borders said...

Those Black-bellied Ducks really are becoming ubiquitous. It seems like every puddle has its contingent of them. Is there anything more adorable than baby ducks?

Jeff said...

They are so cute, aren't they? I just love seeing them.