It has been a spectacular year for tipping your head back and looking toward the Heavens. Mere stargazing at the night sky simply paled in comparison to the treats our eyes have feasted on in 2024. We have had four consecutive Supermoons, including the recent Beaver Moon, which rose on November 15th. With binoculars, or even the naked eye, we were able to see Comet A3, the brightest comet in 27 years, which graced our skies in October. All around the world folks shared photos and were in awe as they witnessed the Aurora, not just once, but on multiple occasions.
We certainly can’t forget the hoopla surrounding the April 8th Solar Eclipse which crossed over North America, leaving us enthralled. Here in SE Michigan we had a partial eclipse, except for the tiny town of Estral Beach that experienced totality that day.
The word “eclipse” is more than a definition about a celestial body, or one person or object “besting” another. Today’s post is going to be about a not-so-ducky time for all Mallard Ducks (and other species of ducks) during their annual molt.
So I’m going to focus on these brown-colored Mallards, but there are always other things to see at Heritage Park, as you know.
Looking drab and feeling bad(ly)!
As to Mallards, “eclipse phase” is a phrase meaning the Drake (male) Mallards lose their familiar-to-us plumage, like the teal-colored head feathers, chocolate-brown breast feathers and other distinctive markings, when, for a one-month period, they have all-brown plumage, thus resembling the Hens (females). This process of drabness (“eclipse”) happens at Summer’s end once the breeding period is over. Gradually, the Drakes’ more-familiar plumage returns and once again they are not only distinguished looking, but distinguishable from the Hens.
But, in the interim, losing their feathers zaps their energy and they feel and look lackluster – there’s a lot of snoozin’ going on, like this guy, who sleepily watched me, then couldn’t keep his eyes open. This is a Mallard Drake – you can see a little bit of its teal head feathers returning.
And, at all the parks I frequent, during molting, it looks like a feather pillow fight erupted.
On this walk, which took place at Heritage Park, it was September 1st, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and bright, when I set out on my stroll around Coan Lake. I had already been to Council Point Park earlier that day, getting in some steps, so this was more of a photo excursion.
I always take a quick gander for possible photo ops.
A gaggle of Canada geese had congregated at the water’s edge.
They were all stirred up about something, emitting honks amongst themselves. There are many geese at this park and they just meander around, only becoming fitful when their goslings are in tow and they deem you a threat. The rest of the time, they’re okay with humans, so what set them off?
I knew I hadn’t stirred them up as I had just arrived, but I was greeted with flapping wings by this fellow a few times. Here he is with both a calm and mean demeanor. A regular Dr. Jekyll …
… and Mr. Hyde persona.
In between posing for me, he was busy wagging that bright-pink tongue.
There was a lot of attitude going on, not only with the usual wagging pink tongue and hissing histrionics, but it was “goosing” the others, by running into them full force with its bill. It looked at me in a menacing way and for a moment there I thought “what … am I your next victim?”
I, however, thought this gander lost its credibility after the goosing incident left it with a feather on its bill after the last jabbing, … er goosing.
This aggressive gander finally succeeded in running half the park’s geese population into Coan Lake. I thought “alright then, whatever floats your boat buddy.” Note the open beak on him as the one goose takes flight.
But a few minutes later, as I neared the grassy slopes at Coan Lake and the covered bridge, I finally had some insight into why the geese were agitated.
Please don’t feed the critters.
For years there was a gentleman who visited Coan Lake daily with two large sacks of cracked corn. The ducks would see him approach and gather around him and he would throw out handfuls of corn which they instantly gobbled up. But the man and his generous feeding ritual are long gone as this park now prohibits feeding the wildlife.
But, on this day, there was a man and woman with two kids. I’m assuming these were the parents and they were toting a couple of bags of bread chunks which they portioned out to the kids to toss to the ducks. I’m also assuming they similarly tried feeding the geese and likely had a stampede of geese coming toward them, so they quickly moved along the grassy shoreline to the more sedate Mallards.
Feeding the ducks – what could go wrong?
If you’re going to feed the masses, you have to bring enough for all of them. The Mallards that were paddling in the water saw food opportunities and rushed onto the grassy slope to partake in the yeasty treats. Soon the shoreline was swarming with ducks. The kids were delighted … that is until they ran out of bread and those ducks that were denied treats waddled over even closer to them.
I watched with interest through the camera, all the while clicking away.
The parents were nowhere to be found.
The kids stood there wondering what to do? They probably thought “ did mom and dad go to get more bread?”
Meanwhile, the ducks were similarly wondering what to do? “Do we hang out and wait? Or do we go back into the water?”
We’re not ducking outta here – yet!
Well, the ducks stood their ground, awaiting treats. This gave me a great view and the perfect opportunity to show you how these ducks are still either molting and awaiting their new feathers, or some were in transition to final plumage. You will notice that all the Mallards are brown, with the exception of a few. You see both males and females with their conspicuous blue-colored speculum feathers which identifies them as Mallards. Additionally, some of the Mallards could be immature/juveniles so they are brown feathered, as the males don’t get the bright green iridescent head feathers until they are about ten months old.
It was nice being surrounded by so many ducks, except some were scoping ME out as a potential benefactor.
“Nope, not going to happen – sorry” I told them.
The few Mallards that chomped on tidbits were thirsty and quenched their thirst in a feather-filled puddle.
Herding ducks – well that’s a first for this venue.
I got a lot of photos and was about to move on when the girl loudly announced that she was going to make all the ducks go into the water, then proceeded to chase them.
Poor babies … some lured out of the water for an anticipated treat, then being chased back into Coan Lake, tummies still growling. Yes, they waddled quickly, some even taking to the air, probably to avoid being stomped on as the youngster ran along the grassy slope attempting to shoo them into the water.
Well, it worked for some of them who beat a hasty retreat …
… while others, a wee bit conflicted, merely veered toward the water, obediently following her, still wondering if there would be more treats?
Some ducks, with a mind of their own, weren’t keen on playing “follow the leader” with another species, so they headed back to the walking path, under a big tree and close to me.
Finally the kids’ parents appeared on the scene (with no bread); the kids ran over to them and about 50 Mallards were left scratching their brown-feathered heads wondering what the heck just happened here. I similarly was wondering. 🙂
So would there be a third oddball occurrence?
I walked the long way to the Botanical Gardens, hoping for a hummingbird to happen by. But nope, no flowers enticed them, nor the butterflies or bees either. I did see a Goldfinch nibbling on a yellow flower – I don’t know if it was a female or a male as they similarly molt that time of year.
The Botanical Gardens had blooms aplenty – who knew that they would be blooming for another ten weeks as we’ve yet to have a hard freeze? Perennials and annuals here in SE Michigan still look great.
It was Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end to Summer …
… and a long, hot Summer at that. Maggie’s Sweet Shop was closed, but her ice cream “menu” and sign were still there.
I am joining Terri’s Sunday Stills Photo Color Challenge: Auburn or Brown.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Hi Linda, happy Sunday! I LOVE all the brown ducks and geese! Wonderful shots of them doing their thing. I’ve been chased by geese in the past while jogging in a park–a little scary. I really love the image of the duck with the orange feet checking you out! That would be a LOT of sucks to feed. Those people were taking their lives into their hands! Well done on the brown challenge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Terri, I’m glad you liked all the brown feathered friends that were nice enough to pose for me. 🙂 The geese were stirred up, especially that one gander – I wish I had gotten a shot of him “goosing” the other ducks. You can see that open bill – he was still in a cantankerous mood. Years ago when I began walking at Council Point Park in 2013, I did not know you were not supposed to feed waterfowl bread. I took a bag of bread with me – I had gotten BOGO free and broke one loaf up for the ducks and geese. The geese saw the bread, some ate it, but others didn’t get any and they came after me and I had no more bread. You are right – it was not funny. I ducked into a group of women walking together and the geese lost sight of me – whew!
It was funny with the kids feeding the ducks bread. Luckily I got shots of the kids, not showing their faces and the ducks’ confusion over where to go, what to do and her herding them to the water was just too funny! I almost used that sweet duck as my featured image – he thought I might feed him. Ducks are so funny sometimes.
I had scanned your list of color challenges for 2024 and when I saw the ducks that day, I knew then I could use them for this post. [I had trouble tagging #Sunday Stills Color Challenge BTW – I put it in the tags like usual and WP did not let it stay there. Sigh.]
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Linda (from another Linda) – I was bitten by a duck as a kid at a park… I’ve stayed scared of them ever since – but they are beautiful to look at – and I’ve always admired the way they glide on the surface of the water, but underneath their feet are paddling like crazy!! Great post, Linda xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello and thank you Linda! I follow a UK blogger who visits a bird sanctuary nearly every day and he says that male ducks can be very territorial with one another and will fight with other males and females too. He says it isn’t nice to see – hope I never see it. Ducks usually look friendly, but geese not so much. I got chased by a group of geese years ago when I took bread to the park before I knew bread was bad for birds. I gave out all the bread I had and more geese came along and wanted bread. I shook the empty bag and shrugged my shoulders but they weren’t amused and came after me. I wasn’t hurt, but it was scary. I like to see those bright-orange feet paddling like crazy too. At the Detroit River, the water is so clear, you can see their big feet paddling away.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes… when I was a mum I took my toddlers to the park, but kept my distance (and no bread), and was horrified when one duck attacked another, and then turned on the ducklings… I felt so helpless, but I also couldn’t get the kids out of there fast enough… I can still remember it so clearly… funny how I forgot about it though for 10+ years, and your post reminded me… but don’t feel bad, because your image of crystal clear water and waddling orange flipper-feet paddling makes me smile!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow Linda – the ducks turned on the ducklings – that was not nice to see. I’m glad you got the kids out of there before they saw anything. Ducks always seem so mild mannered but seeing this makes you wonder doesn’t it? The Canada geese are beautiful, but they are ornery. I feed the squirrels and birds at the park where I walk all the time. The geese will see me putting down peanuts in the shell and sunflower seeds and march over and gobble everything up while the squirrels and birds watch and look at me like “tell them to leave our treats alone!” But I will say “shoo” but I’m reluctant to get too close to them in case they fly up at me. We’ve had people hurt by a geese flying up at you with their big wingspan. I’m glad you liked those orange flipper-feet paddling … I liked the picture of that duck sticking his foot out in the air. It made ME smile seeing it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🌞
LikeLiked by 1 person
Something is up with tags, as of Friday. I should report it to WP. I did a work around and pasted a tag from Word and hit enter once pasted. Weird!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder if it had something to do with the hashtag as I was able to use my frequent tags without a hitch? I tried the other day when I wrote the post and again today when I inserted your link – WP rebelled! Yes, very weird! I’ll remember your trick in case they don’t fix it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another blogger told me she couldn’t add tags either. I just sent a message to WP. I had to add Sunday Stills as a category this time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay, definitively a problem with three occurrences. I can’t remember if I tried to do a category – I guess not.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Herding ducks, confused ones at that! My favorite new way to talk about any situation. Good photos that made me smile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad to give you a smile Ally! Between the gander’s goosing of the other geese and the girl herding ducks and their mass confusion, it was an unusual Sunday afternoon stroll. I stayed planted in place for a long time. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the ducks although they were a bit confused. More treats coming?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ducks are so funny Kate – they follow the crowd and they didn’t know whether to stay or go (like that song). I think ducks are always up for treats. A year or so ago, a couple of kids were feeding kids at a small duck pond and I happened to walk by. It reminded me of me when I was a kid and fed the ducks bread. The kids were feeding them pita bread from their lunch and when it was gone, I swear the ducks looked crestfallen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful gaggle of birds and flowers Linda
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked them Brian – there were no dull moments in this stroll at Heritage Park. Never leave home without your camera! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the title, Linda! And the young girl believing that she could get all the ducks to follow her definitely had me laughing! And the brown mallard doing the happy tap duck feet for you gave me a giggle. Enjoyed your post tonight. 🦆🦆🦆
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked this post TD. I think those Mallards’ varying colors, as well as those of the geese, could indeed make 50 different shades of brown in this post. Yes, the girl thought she could herd the ducks back to the water after she finished feeding them (well some of them anyway). Ducks are so sweet aren’t they? I actually toyed with the idea of keeping that duck tap dancing for a Wordless Wednesday post – their feet look bigger out of the water. It is windy outside and raining, so it is good to have a home tonight.
LikeLike
Yes! Lots of browns!!
It is also windy here right now. We are getting a dry cold front (meaning no rain) tonight then a second dry cold front on Wednesday night dropping temperatures to what we call sweater weather. Not anything close to the cold you have been experiencing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have had sweater weather all of October and last Tuesday I was outside and got warm and got rid of some layers, down to a sleeveless shirt. In November! Now we may get one inch of snow on Thursday. It will not stick but still. We are spoiled by the warm days and no hard freeze to date.
LikeLike
I guess they’ll be gassing these geese and ducks soon. That seems to be the norm these days. Too many people who hate nature!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Wayne – well these ducks are safe as they add to the ambiance at Heritage Park and luckily there are not too many geese here (but this one gander with the attitude better watch himself!) I was at Elizabeth Park recently and they are really overrun with geese. They are everywhere, more than any other large park in my opinion. They used to have a lot of ducks, various species, not so much anymore; I hope they did not meet their fate by being gassed. It’s not right – but you and I will always take a stand for those poor critters with no voice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
good to hear Linda!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, for sure Wayne!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those mallards were confused from so much commotion!!
Thanks for reminding me that mallard ducks molt once a year. Why do I always forget that fact??
Nice pictures of the ducks…they are looking nice and plump and a little silly with their waddles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Esther – it was a bit comical to watch all the confusion. I knew you’d be interested to see this post since we’ve discussed before how all the Mallards turn brown for about one month every year in late Summer. A teaching lesson for the kids. Today I sent you a short article about ants. I was fascinated and I am an adult! I am not fascinated with ants as they come into the house every Spring for a few weeks, then disappear again (thankfully). And we had to have three trees cut down as they got carpenter ants – also not funny. The ducks are sweet to see with their plump bodies and waddles, especially, when they give you a look like the squirrels do – like a potential dispenser of goodies!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did get your ants post on my insta…and they are fascinating creatures. They are so resourceful and smart.
Oh yikes, an ant infestation is not funny. Those guys are committed to their mission and do not leave easily.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Esther, I thought the ant article was interesting. You don’t give that much credibility to such a small insect, so this is amazing. The annual tiny ant infestation never happened in our house, likely because we were sprayed for years for carpenter ants and I was sprayed in the basement for spiders and centipedes, then I worried about the spray not being safe, so I stopped having it sprayed by a pest control company. This year because we did not get extremely cold all Winter, just at one occurrence, the ants were not as bad. It happens in mid-April and for me, it is only one side of the house … it lasts about three weeks, then they disappear, just like that. I dread it. I’m not afraid of them like spiders and centipedes, but I don’t like the idea of them being there either.
LikeLike
I like how you said it: yes, we don’t give those tiny insects enough credibility.
The ants come into a place trailing an army! I prefer them to spiders and centipedes, but I’d rather not have any of them around. We had some fruit flies this April and they were everywhere. It was from a rotten potato in a paper bag, which I didn’t realize was in there until much later.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those fruit flies are the worst too. If you’re on the computer, they see the light and go on over to the screen – ugh. Ants have bigger brains than I ever gave them credit for to be honest.
LikeLike
What a lot of lovely photographs!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Anne – I am glad you liked them. Once the males get their beautiful plumage back again, they are beautiful to see on a sunny day, that teal head glinting in the sunshine!
LikeLike
Wonderful photography,Linda. Happy Sunday! I LOVE all the brown ducks and geese! Wonderful shots of them doing their thing. So beautiful flowers 🌺🌹! I like. God blessing 🤞!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Raj – I am glad you liked all the photos. Yes, it was a treat to see all these ducks and geese on that sunny Sunday stroll. So many ducks in one place and then beautiful flowers as well – all God’s blessing indeed!
LikeLike
I can very easily see myself at that age, as the kid who chased the ducks back to the pond. Fortunately for the ducks, no longer have either the inclination or the energy. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha – when I was very young, I was feeding the swans in Toronto at High Park and my mom said to my dad “don’t let Linda get too close to the swans” … a swan came after me, but I got scooped up in record time. P.S. – I don’t have that vim and vigor I had when I was younger either – sigh. Being youthful is fleeting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Molting does seem like it would be an uncomfortable process.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it is awful for all birds Linda. Over the years I’ve had parakeets and canaries and they were listless and miserable while the annual molt happened. Our male canaries would not sing for about 10 weeks and we used to tape record them singing before the molt to play the tape and help them re-learn how to belt out a song again. There were feathers everywhere in the cage, water and all they do is sleep. Their molt takes about eight to ten weeks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Poor things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, they are miserable no doubt – I felt so badly for our pets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My constant fascination with the night sky and all that it offers mirrors your fascination with parkland wildlife. I never tire of stars, constellations and the many faces of the moon (though I’d be a poor “tour guide” if I were ever asked to point out what I see). I’m grateful for the clear, bright skies we had in Colorado and now have in South Carolina. It’s one of the many benefits of living in “rural” locales.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dave, were you able to see any of the Leonid meteor shower over the weekend? The peak time for viewing was Saturday night, or I would have mentioned it in the post. It has been a fabulous year for gazing at the night sky. I follow a blogger who went to Northern Michigan to get away from light pollution to take photos of the Milky Way this Summer. I have too much light pollution here plus utility lines are in the way to get the great photos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Missed the meteor shower, Linda. If I’d paid closer attention to the headlines, I might’ve realized it was an easy watch. Don’t remember if it was visible at a decent hour or in the middle of the night?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dave, I might not have known about it except we have a scientist from Michigan’s Cranbrook Institute of Science Planetarium who is a frequent guest on my all-news station and he usually mentions interesting items to be looking for in the night sky. In this instance, the meteor showers were overnight, so they didn’t garner as much enthusiasm as say the Aurora events, or the full moon which you didn’t have to stay up half the night to view them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Canada geese can be mean for sure! We don’t feed bread anymore to the ducks, we used to years ago but apparently it’s bad for them, but they do love it !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the ganders can turn on you in a heartbeat. Years ago I fed them too before all the public service announcements came out about how it is not a nourishing food even though they gobble it up. I’ve seen some horrible photos of waterfowl with angel wing as a result of poor nutrition from eating bread/crackers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello,Linda! Thank you so much u like my comment. Iam so glad! Really nice photography & nice place. God bless u!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you again Raj.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have seen hundreds of mallard ducks but I always focused on the male because of the colors. I am shocked that I have missed the beautiful feathers on the female. I love seeing flowers in your posts when they are usually done for winter. It is so uplifting in the drab of winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Diane, I had been walking at Council Point Park for five years already when I got my first Metropark pass in 2018, then I took that boat tour and out on Lake Erie was a huge group of ducks – they were all brown and looked the same. The guide told us about “eclipse phase” and said one month a year, it is the same brown color for all Mallard ducks, but he said they all have the blue wing feathers year-round. You can see the males transitioning to their permanent plumage in some of the ducks as they have the chocolate brown fronts where the females are all the speckled brown color. We have geraniums blooming away here … I don’t know how they’ll look after Thursday’s inch of snow – ugh. But it is 60 degrees now at almost 6:00 p.m. I liked those pink daisies, in a dusty rose color – I don’t think they were coneflowers as they weren’t shaped like them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How fascinating, I didn’t know that about the ducks. Yes that dusty rose color is beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to like taking those classes and the boat trips. Too bad they mothballed the boat when COVID arrived, although I think it is at another Metropark now permanently. It used to divide its time between two Metroparks. We learned a lot on the little “cruise” – the interpretive guide and his assistant had a regular “show and tell” going on and when we passed the brown ducks, they pointed it out to us to look it and they told us why.
LikeLike
Your photos show these birds’ personalities so well! 😀 It’s too bad that family didn’t bring enough bread for all, but, as others have mentioned, it’s bad for them anyway. Love the closeup of the duck with the big orange feet and the angry geese. You don’t want to mess with them, for sure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Debbie! I gave bread to the ducks as a kid at High Park, but even at Council Point Park when I first started walking there in 2013. Back then I don’t recall nature site doing PSAs about bread being harmful to waterfowl. I see the geese with angel wing and it is sad to see them. The ducks are so sweet and I like when they stand in front of you, the equivalent of a squirrel begging for peanuts. My squirrels at the Park are nervy because they often plant themselves on my walking shoes, or in some cases, try to leap up and reach the bag I am carrying containing the peanuts. A few of the ducks waddled over and just stood in front of me with a look like “well maybe you can come up with a little somethin’ for us?” That gander was mean … I couldn’t believe he was poking the other geese in the side with its bill and hissing at me for no reason at all!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the pictures of the mallards scoping you out! It’s too bad the family didn’t know better than to feed the ducks bread. That’s a cute picture of the goldfinch nibbling on the flower head. Well, if summers are going to last longer at least we get to enjoy its flowers a little longer, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Barbara! Those ducks were so sweet parking themselves in front of me hoping I had treats. I wished I had something for them, even a little corn – they make you feel guilty. That family might have been new to Heritage Park and didn’t see the sign – I’ve only seen one sign and there are multiple ways to enter the historical area. Yes, it’s not good for the ducks. They used to stock Coan Lake with fish as they allow catch-and-release fishing only, so I don’t know if the fish are small enough for ducks to eat. There are Cormorants and Herons that “fish” there too. I was hoping the Goldfinch would come to the front of the flower, but it must have been tasty as it stayed there forever, so I left. We have annuals blooming away – it is 60 degrees here and now almost 6:30 p.m.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful flowers at The Botanical Gardens! I learned when my girls were little that geese can be quite disagreeable and tend to steer clear of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Geese do not have a good reputation around humans sometimes. I think they were “set off” by the feeding which is probably why they now discourage it at this park, even though the man fed the ducks through the years without incident. The flowers were gorgeous and in some cases, there are geraniums blooming like crazy around here, as vibrant pink as in Summer … that might change when we get snow this week (Thursday) and we still have not had a hard freeze!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Snow! Funny how a week starts out so nice and changes so quickly. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s been a dreary and soggy day with snow off and on, but nothing is sticking … so far. The weather sure is crazy these days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You live in a lovely place. Your duck pictures are fun. They are always willing to pose for a possible prize. They definitely aren’t shy. I wonder what is going through their heads.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Marsha. This park is a great gathering place for families as they have catch-and-release fishing and lots of ducks at Coan Lake so the kids are happy to visit. There are lots of goslings and ducklings to see here too, so it’s a fun place to go take pictures. Ducks seem so sweet to me. They were posing in front of me and I felt badly I couldn’t give them anything. I wonder too what they think. I feed the squirrels at the park where I walk most days. The squirrels are more persistent. If I don’t produce treats right away, they step onto my shoes or try to jump up to reach the treat bag and get my attention. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s hilarious! I had no idea that squirrels were so aggressive!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes they are aggressive, but just as to treats. If I stop to talk to someone or take a photo, their patience wears thin, especially one, which I’ve named Parker. He follows me around and is persistent. I’ve been walking at this park for 11 years now, so they know me (the soft touch a/k/a “The Peanut Lady”).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cute, Peanut Lady! Dan Antion is another with a soft spot for rabbits and squirrels.
LikeLike
Thank you Marsha! I try to live up to that moniker. 🙂 Yes, Dan’s cutie-pie squirrels begging on his porch and his sweet bunnies eating the grass so he doesn’t have to mow always give me a smile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No mowing, now there’s a sales pitch! 🙂 xxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, they happily “mow” for Dan! I wish I could herd them my way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahaha! He wants to hog them all for himself! 🙂 xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t blame him – he tells those bunnies “all you have to do is occasionally pose for blog photos and for that I offer you the world, er … an all-you-can-eat grass buffet!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha. I love it! 🙂 xxxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a lovely post Linda. We had ducks when I was growing up, so it brought back so many lovely memories of them with all your descriptions
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always enjoy seeing ducks at the different parks where I go Zena. They are always willing to pose and are inquisitive, unlike the geese that get angry with you for just being in the same area as they are. 🙂 I am glad the post brought back some lovely memories for you with your feathered friends.
LikeLike