Mandarin Ducks

I decided to walk from the house down to our nearby woods, planning on taking photos of the wild flowers and to see if the bluebells were out yet. This time last year the bluebells in these woods were nearly over already, whereas this year they haven't even started yet.

I did take some photos of wild flowers and saw a couple of bluebells but no significant crop of them yet. I was walking up a path I have walked many times before when Xena dashed off into the undergrowth - I heard her barking so I followed her and found a tiny pond that I never even realised was there - and I saw what she was barking at as four Mandarin ducks had just flown onto the pond, three males and one female, and the males were being so aggressive with the female, it was like a gang rape! I thought they are monogamous and mate for life but all three males were trying it on with her, pecking at her and pushing her under the water, I almost wanted to jump into the pond to save her! Xena's gundog instincts were in overdrive but as she does not swim she was getting so frustrated - she slid in to the pond up to her belly but then thought better of it and came out again. I decided to do a selection of the photos from today - I never had a telephoto lens with me, so these have been severely cropped but I do have 46 megapixels to play with which helps in circumstances like this. I could not get a clear view as this pond is very hidden by all the plants around it, but I think these have worked out okay. What a surprise to see these ducks there, I have never seen them in these woods before, mainly as I did not think there was any water there.

Gavin had his first Covid PCR test yesterday for his trip to Zurich and got the results early this morning. He is not looking forward to quarantining for 5 days, but it has to be done. He won't be able to leave the house except to go for additional PCR tests on day 2 and day 5 of the quarantine (at a facility especially registered for the 'Test to Release for International Travel' scheme). I was a bit annoyed as we had our first pub meal booked for Sunday lunch which he cannot go to now, so instead he has ordered a fine dining at home meal which is probably a far better option.