ducks. One day, after living on the preserve for more then 10 years a pair of very different ducks showed up. They were not like any other duck we had seen, either here or in NJ or Penna. They had very long legs that were bright orange, to match their bill. They did not waddle like a duck, they walked upright, and they did not quack, they had a whistle especially in flight. When I checked them out they are called whistling ducks or tree ducks and although they are called ducks they really are not. Rather they are a sub family. They sometimes will roost high up in trees and they also don’t eat like other ducks. They spend very little time in the water and they eat grasses and grains. They became frequent visitors to our backyard as they quickly realized Sean was providing seed for the various birds and it suited their diet. There were only two at first until they appeared one day with 13 ducklings. Besides them coming to show off their little ones an amazing thing happened. A flock of whistling ducks appeared out of nowhere and perched on our roof and our neighbors roof and just stared down at the ducklings. They stayed for what seemed like hours for as long as they could see the babies. One would occasionally try to get closer, as if to get a closer look but would be chased away by the protective parents. As I researched this behavior I found that they are fascinated with the ducklings and will stare forever at them. Another unusual thing they would do is hide them in the high grass at any fear of danger and they would leave for hours. At the end of day they would again hide them in the grass and fly away, to come back the next morning to get them. They mate for life unlike ducks, who do not. We originally had two and then 15 and then another pair showed up and appeared one day with 12 ducklings. We had at any given time 30 or 40 of them. As we lost more water in the preserve they had disappeared, however the rain we had for a couple of days has restored some water and all of a sudden we see a pair headed towards the house for a meal. Hopefully they will stay and bring a new brood for us to see, and we like a whistling duck will stare for hours at them.

Here they are checking the newly born ducklings.

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