A Total Eclipse Of The Duck

It rained all day so I first went and sat in Longlands Hide at Fishers Green. I spotted a bird of prey in a distant bush but it didn't budge. A heron was hunting in the stubble but quite a way off. 

From there to the Bittern Hide. Nothing much doing. Got a parakeet in flight and warbler in the reeds. My image is of mallard ducks. After they have raised their young they moult and for a short period cannot fly and are vulnerable to predators. During this time and for a while afterwards the males, which are usually brightly coloured, have plumage which is very similar to that of the females. This period is known as eclipse. I think my pic shows three males and a female. The males retain their yellow bills.

Today's poem is Fatal Interview XLVII by Edna St Vincent Millay. http://wherepoetrycrosses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/well-i-have-lost-you-by-edna-st-vincent.html

"I don't want to keep someone who doesn't want to be kept." "I deserve better than someone who doesn't want to be with me."