March 13, 2004
Going Quackers
These pictures are from Valkyre, Since I have to work I only get pictures and a story. Sigh. All pictures were taken from the house, through the french doors with Wendy's Fuji Finepix 2800 with it's 6x optical zoom lens.) Seems that after I left for work, Wendy gets up, glances out the back windows and sees something floating in the pool. Looks like the chlorine dispensing floating duck, except that was retired and is now a decoration in the front flower bed. Did one of the girls repaint it? 
Nope. It is a mated pair of Mallard Ducks. The landed in our pool to take a short break from flying. After a brief rest they walk the rim of the pool, checking out the neighborhood. They return to the water. Pepper Anne notices them, stands on the pool deck level with them and barks. The ducks glance over, see she is not about to touch the water, and ignore her. She loses interest and returns to the house. 
They float around a while more. Finally, satisfied that the pool is safe they tuck their bills under their wings and take a nap.
We thought they might have been migrating and just used us as a rest stop. On the other hand, I did not know that Los Angeles was on any duck migration route. I could be that these are a couple of local escapees from some breeder.
It will be interesting to see if they ever return, or if this was just a one-shot deal.
