I shot this video on 29 May while walking around Caldecotte
Lake in Milton Keynes. I initially started to film a female Mallard and her
twelve ducklings (just for the aahhhh factor!) when out of the blue she was set
upon by a male Mallard and then, to add insult to injury, by a Coot! It wasn't until things had quietened down and I had stopped filming that I heard a
'quack' from up high on the wall and realised what had happened, reviewing the
video later just confirmed my theory.
It would appear that the mother had taken her family into
the' territory' of another pair of Mallards where the female is sitting on a
nest high up on the Ivy clad wall and the male was just protecting his
interest! It can also be seen in the
video that the father of the ducklings is a bit bewildered and isn't sure who
to protect first, them or the female, in the end he does nothing!!
As to why the Coot joined in I can only assume it was just a
Coot being a Coot and not being able to resist joining in on a good fight!!
It all worked out well in the end though....It's tough being
a parent!!
8 comments:
Hi Trevor...Well an arrest for assault in the world of humans would be in order ; }
Poor mommy going through that with the children witnessing all the commotion!! I
t isn't always as pretty and calm as it looks living the life of nature!!
Insightful!!
Love the Mallards chose of nesting though!!
Grace
Hi Grace, it sure can be harsh out there at times! And we humans think we get a bum deal!!...lol...[;o)
Amazing video Trevor; nature in its toughest.
Thanks Keith and welcome home!...[;o)
All comes to those..................nice video.
Cheers Bob...[;o)
I rather thought the Coot was having a go at the male mallard Trevor, but then it was definitely a coot being a coot when it attacked one of the ducklings.
You can always bank on a Coot being up for a good scrap Roy..lol...[;o)
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