Molting Mallards  #Wordless Wednesday  #Poor feather babies

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Linda Schaub

#Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.

About Linda Schaub

This is my first blog and I enjoy writing each post immensely. I started a walking regimen in 2011 and in 2013 I decided to create a blog as a means of memorializing the people, places and things seen on my daily walks. I have always enjoyed people watching, so my blog is peppered with folks I meet or reflections of characters I have known through the years. Often something piques my interest, or evokes a pleasant memory from my memory bank, so this becomes a “slice o’ life” blog post. I respect and appreciate nature and my interactions with Mother Nature’s gifts is also a common theme. Sometimes the most-ordinary items become fodder for points to ponder over and touch upon. I retired in March 2024 after a career in the legal field. I was a legal secretary for almost 45 years, primarily working in downtown Detroit, then working from my home. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in Mass Communications (print journalism) in 1978, though I’ve never worked in that field. I would like to think this blog is the writer in me finally emerging!! Walking and writing have met, shaken hands and the creative juices are flowing in Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy. I hope you think so too. - Linda Schaub
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42 Responses to Molting Mallards  #Wordless Wednesday  #Poor feather babies

  1. singlikewildflowers says:
    October 13, 2021 at 5:32 am

    Wow Linda! Great pictures of the molting Mallards. Heard of it but never seen it myself. Will have to show the kids.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 13, 2021 at 8:28 pm

      It is amazing to see them Esther, the males especially as that brown front and teal head get sparse and tell the kids that after both the males and females lose their feathers, they go into “eclipse phase” where they look alike, both brown and speckled until they get their final/regular plumage in.

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      • singlikewildflowers says:
        October 15, 2021 at 2:17 am

        It’s quite a process for the ducks in molting season. I didn’t know about this till recently and learned this is a vulnerable time for the ducks. They can’t fly so they’re helpless prey. Great pictures to show the molting looks.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        October 15, 2021 at 7:02 pm

        Yes they are not only vulnerable but no energy as it takes a lot out of them – same for geese. Once they lose their large flight feathers, they take to the water and head to large shoreline parks where they can lose/regain their feathers and can paddle away from any predators and safety in numbers.

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      • singlikewildflowers says:
        October 15, 2021 at 8:10 pm

        Yes, safety in numbers but it must still be a precarious time for them. Interesting to learn about their molting. This semester for science we are focusing on birds, and molting will be something covered in the near future. Right now, it’s the foundation, like what makes a bird a bird. Long way to go…
        Have a great weekend and happy mid October. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        October 16, 2021 at 8:26 pm

        I wish I’d known that Esther as last Saturday was Global Big Day – it is one of several “bird count days” around the world. I participated in it last Saturday as I was in the wildlife refuge for a 5k – I saw 68 birds altogether – you count species and list how many of each you saw. Tell the kids how birds are light and aerodynamic and their bones are hollow (see paragraph below) and for example, you see a Great Blue Heron which looks scrawny but all wings and it is only about 5 pounds body weight altogether. See about the bones which I Googled and found:

        A human bone is dense and filled with bone marrow. However, a bird bone is hollow and filled with air. It also has some cross-sections of bone, called struts, that make the bone strong and help birds withstand taking off, flying and landing.

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  2. Anne Mehrling says:
    October 13, 2021 at 7:08 am

    I used to see moulting mallards when I walked. They looked pitiful and bedraggled, just like yours.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 13, 2021 at 8:45 pm

      Yes, I felt sorry for them, especially the males who have those beautiful teal heads that glint in the sun. Then they all turn a speckled brown – both males and females, until their final plumage grows in.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Barbara Rodgers says:
    October 13, 2021 at 7:25 am

    Yes, bedraggled! (Like my blue jay a couple of months ago!) They look like real troopers, though! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 13, 2021 at 8:33 pm

      Your blue jay probably has his feathers grown in by now and sassy now that he is looking good again. I felt so sorry for them Barbara. The female didn’t look too bedraggled, but the males, especially around the eye and chest area was so bare!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Tofino Photography says:
    October 13, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Move over Squirrel Lady,Duck Lady is in the House!
    I’m sure they are embarrassed to be caught half dressed Linda.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 13, 2021 at 8:41 pm

      Ha ha – yes, I was lucky (or maybe I should say ducky) on this trip to Heritage Park. I agree with you Wayne, especially the drakes with their vibrant teal heads and beautiful plumage. I felt badly for them.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Rebecca says:
    October 13, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    Such pretty colors! Each one is different.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 13, 2021 at 8:43 pm

      Yes they were – poor things; as they walked along, feathers were flying around. I have some pictures of Canada Geese I took this Summer – same thing, molting up a storm and feathers were gathering in the grass as they plucked them out.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Eilene Lyon says:
    October 13, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    I do wonder if they feel sort of naked while they’re molting.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog says:
    October 13, 2021 at 11:14 pm

    Molting Mallards… sounds like the beginning of a new poem.☺

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Sandra J says:
    October 14, 2021 at 9:24 am

    They always look so ruff this time of year 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Joni says:
    October 15, 2021 at 11:39 pm

    It seems strange they should be molting this time of year, when you’d think they would need the extra layer of protection for the upcoming colder weather? How long does molting go on and when do they get their new fall outfits?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Joni says:
      October 15, 2021 at 11:40 pm

      PS. I did not see any molted ones from the bunch I took pics of but that was several weeks ago?

      Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        October 16, 2021 at 8:49 pm

        That was why … they have their regular plumage back once again. The eclipse phase (all brown feathers after molting) is usually in August, and then they begin growing in their regular feathers again. You have to go looking for them in July or August next year (we’ll probably have a lot of rain again, so look in the parking lot).

        Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 16, 2021 at 8:46 pm

      Actually this picture was taken in the Summer, in early July, the same day I took the photos of the ducks swimming around in that makeshift pond that will be in Monday’s post. The ducks and geese usually molt in June. At Council Point Park, once the geese start losing their large flight feathers, their goslings may not be able to fly yet as their wings are not grown yet, but they all paddle over to a big shoreline park as the geese can’t fly until the new flight feathers grow back and could be attacked by predators – they are safe in the water. The geese are gone all Summer from Council Point Park. As to the Mallards, their feathers grow back speckled brown (both male and female) and you cannot tell male from female – this is when they are in “eclipse phase”, then a month or so later they get their regular plumage in. I took a couple of interpretive cruises at the Metropark and one was in August and we passed a lot of ducks out on the water that all looked the exact same so the guide explained it to us. I would think they’d have their fall outfits by September.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        October 16, 2021 at 11:32 pm

        That makes sense, to molt in the hot weather. I thought the photos were recent, forgot you had such a backlog of pictures and stories!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        October 17, 2021 at 8:58 pm

        At the rate I’m going, I’ll have enough pictures and stories into the new year! I am planning to do the Henry and Clara Ford Estate in January … I have lilac pics from Spring 2021, the rose garden from July 2021 and I scrapped all the photos I got from the 2019 afternoon spent there because all of the photos of the home and the potting shed were undergoing renovation, so there was scaffolding all around the home (which looks a little like a castle). So that will be three, maybe four posts over two weeks. Then I may go back when the renovation (and COVID) are a done deal.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        October 18, 2021 at 10:45 am

        We will all be wanting to look at Lilacs in a few months when it snows!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        October 18, 2021 at 8:50 pm

        That’s what I thought too Joni. Something colorful to perk up our spirits once the snow flies!

        Liked by 1 person

  11. AnnMarie R stevens says:
    October 16, 2021 at 9:42 am

    Miss Linda……………awesome close ups of the Mallards………………I love learning about our area ducks……..thank you

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Prior... says:
    October 17, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    Like how you creatively led us to the individual feathers and then the cluster of them – so cool

    Liked by 1 person

  13. ruthsoaper says:
    October 19, 2021 at 5:42 am

    They look so rough – I just feel sorry for them. Our chickens are molting now and I can’t even bring myself to take pictures of them. LOL! The coop looks like there was a massacre with feathers everywhere.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      October 19, 2021 at 6:58 pm

      I believe it – especially if they all molted at one time. When I had my white canary, I’d clean him and a few minutes after that, he’d hop from perch to perch and feathers were floating around the cage again, landing in the water and food. That’s late in the year for your chickens to molt – they’ll need sweaters. Have you ever seen those sweaters they made for chickens? You could crochet them some. Here’s a pattern but they don’t show a picture:

      Plush Chicken Sweater: Free Crochet Pattern

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Shelley@QuaintRevival.com says:
    October 24, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    Such a handsome-looking Mallard. He appeared to be happy to pose for you!

    Liked by 1 person

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