Old Red Face takes a bath...

Back to our favorite Muscovy duck today. Sadly, the ducks at Tingley Beach are so overfed that no one was much interested in eating which led to extended observations of Old Red Face taking a bath. Since she hates water, it began with a leap from the edge of the water to a rock where her feet wouldn't get wet, where she gripped the rock firmly with her feet. She then dipped her face and beak in the water and splashed herself. She has quite a Mohawk when wet. She then leaped over the water and fluffed herself out.

We have decided that next year we will get the baby an easter duck which will be a Muscovy.

Old Red Face has a space staked out far away from the water under a picnic table which keeps those thuggish geese away as it has reinforcements all the way around and make a nice reverse duck pen. She and her buddies (another muscovy and their protector, a large male white duck, can crawl underneath but the geese can't. When we were sitting at her favorite table today watching the baby play on the grass and at the table's bench, she harrumphed at us and waddled over to another table.

Today, I am grateful for the day I was given, ducks, babies, the sun and cool breeze and the sweet smell of clean sheets.