Mrs. Pochard

A very grey day, but here she is; her subtle plumage looks less uniform (and dark!) in large ("L").

I visited Mount Pond briefly this morning, but managed to get a few shots of the female pochard on the pond after she stopped floating about with her head under her wing... When I arrived and she was floating like that, I thought: "RIGHT, that's it, I'm just going to blip you like that is all you're going to do; everyone will see how idle you are!".

I wandered off around the pond to see who what else was about, and it turns out that. after all my mental threats, she didn't just doze all morning. When I returned to her spot, she untucked her head and even flapped her wings vigorously (that photo was dismissed by my mother as "uncharacteristic"). She is actually a rather adorable duck: her plumage is subtle but the grey, brown, and russet colouration is rather fetching, and her shy character is appealing. Her beak is long but rather flat, and has a bright blue strap of colour across the middle of it. When people throw bread into the pond, all the other birds rush over and squabble for it, whereas she comes over but remains at a distance and just watches. Pochards seem to be more shy than the other ducks, and won't come so close to the pond's edge (especially if there are people there...).

Pochards are diving ducks (they dive to find food underwater); they're larger than tufted ducks, but not as large as mallards. There was also a male on Mount Pond recently, but he has taken himself off somewhere so she's the only pochard in the area. The males look more striking (in breeding plumage): their bodies are a bright steely grey with a black breast and tail, and their heads are vivid brick red/orange colour.