Duckfest

Went for a long walk around Ladybower Dam today. The dam is famous for being the training ground for the revered 617 Squadron, otherwise known as The Dambusters.

Well, I took lots of photographs of the dams and quite a few of the wildlife. I was going to be this image of a pair of Chaffinches but this image topped the lot as it is bizarre. It is not the best photo but there are not many occasions when you can fill a viewfinder with a sheer block of birds.

I took some sunflower hearts and mixed seed with me in an attempt to attract a few birds to me. The seed was in a small carrier bag and when I rustled it and whistled at the ducks I was not totally prepared for what happened next. It was like that scene in Tarzan when he calls out and the film cuts to images of various animals hearing the call and making their way to the hero.

Within a few seconds, ducks were waddling and flying in my direction. I had my 300mm lens on the camera body and so could not capture the sheer number of ducks that had totally surrounded me. This blip only manages to capture a small portion on them My guess was that it was at least 60-70. There was one particular female who insisted on pecking me and tugging on my jeans when she wanted feeding. She wanted feeding continually.

It was a surreal experience and as a bird lover, it was heavenly. I was not too keen on being continually pecked, but I will be going back with more seed next time - and my standard lens.