Yesterday up at Green Lake I saw something in the duck world I'd never
before witnessed. A pair of Mallards were cruising around the lake, behind
the theater near the diving platform(s). Two drakes flew in and landed in
the water near them. One of drakes apparently took a liking to Ms. Mallard
and started towards her. This raised Mr. Mallard's ire. He immediately
lunged towards the Interloper and attacked. At one point Mr. was atop the
Interloper w/his bill around the Interloper's neck, and it appeared that he
was trying to drown him--he kept trying to push the other's neck in the
lake, and succeeded a few times. The Interloper escaped, only to fly off
w/the Mr. in hot pursuit. The two swooped around the lake for a bit (in
close formation, but I didn't see any air-to-air combat), then both landed
but didn't continue their battle. Ms. then started quacking, and Mr. went
over to join her. Soon thereafter the Interloper once again starting
cruising towards Ms. M, but Mr. again attacked him, not quite so viciously
this time, and the Interloper backed off quickly. I'm assuming this was
defending-the-pair-bond behavior or something. Wow. I'd never seen a duck
try to drown another before. Fascinating.

Mary Klein
Seattle WA
BassClef at seanet.com