“Zelda, hello! I haven’t seen you since you and Drake flew south for the winter. And I hear that you just had ducklings, your first! Congratulations! Let me tell you, kids are a treasure, but they do the craziest things sometimes. Like the other day, I came home to the pond, and discovered that my youngest, Stacey, had gotten into my makeup kit. I was laughing so hard I could barely take this picture. Isn’t she adorable?”
This is a Mandarin Duckling, via Imgur.
Weird Al’s “I Want a New Duck” just popped into my head.
“A mallard I think”
Just don’t let him build a nest in the bathroom sink.
🙂
I would happily give up a bathroom sink for this beauty!
Me, too, except I only have one bathroom and I kinda need the sink.
Eh, I guess I could just put a mirror over the kitchen sink… ?
Birds are so amazing.
Pictures like this make me feel that humans don’t deserve this planet.
I often have that feeling. One of my favorite things I’ve ever heard was entomologist E.O. Wilson saying that if all the people on earth were to die today, tomorrow the world would start to heal; if all the ants were to die today we’d be in deep doo doo (not an exact quote)?
Have you seen the great TV series Life After People, that’s the exact premise!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433058/
I loved that show; they did a great job with the visuals.
Also read The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (same premise and came out around the same time, though not related to the show, as far as I know), which is an expansion of his Discover article Earth Without People. (I met him at Book Expo America a few years ago and got a signed galley of his book Countdown; he was very nice. I haven’t read Countdown yet, though.)
Yep. gives you pause. Or paws, which is what I’d rather have! Ha!
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Wilson once; a charming gentleman, in addition to all his many other good points.
WOW you MET him??? He’s a super star to me. How very cool.
So beautiful. Here are some Mandarins just enjoying a rest and a stroll. https://youtu.be/8FjCDU1aAog
Great video! And here are some going for a swim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtDu3dMsvXA
Mike, I love your animal-family conversations.
He is a miracle of applied design – I love the fins, like a ’57 Plymouth! (as if a car could ever look so good)
Yes, I love the fins! And the black & white chevron stripes on his rear feathers. What a symphony of colors & patterns.
WOW!!! Beautiful!!!
Hovertext worked on my funny bone just now. 😀
“I try to give her good advice, but it just rolls off her back…!”
TIL a male duck is called a drake 🙂