Subject: [Tweeters] Odd pair, Wood Duck and Mallard
Date: Jan 22 18:03:26 2008
From: Kelly McAllister - mcallisters4 at comcast.net


I just put five pictures of a couple of ducks on photobucket.

http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u75/junewild/

This Wood Duck and Mallard (at Capitol Lake in Olympia today) were strangely bonded. A man was tearing up his sandwich and throwing it to the ducks and these two were inseparable. The Wood Duck appeared to be the instigator of the attachment. He stayed up tight to the mallard at all times. Sometimes she seemed to be rushing away as fast as she could swim but he kept right along side her, making a strange sound all the while. I snapped a bunch of pictures, most of which are in poor focus, but when I loaded them on the computer, I noticed that the male Wood Duck appears to be wearing an aluminum band on its left leg. I guess there's some kind of history of captivity here. Perhaps both of these birds were captives and developed their bond before being unleashed upon Capitol Lake.

At first, I was pleased to see a Wood Duck on the lake. Now, I'm not so sure.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington