This post shows you a waterbird that you will often see on the river from this point on the Quays. It is the mallard, one of the most common ducks you will see.
The mallard is the most easily recognisable of our native ducks. The drake (the male) has a green head, a yellow bill, and a purple-brown body, while the hen (female) is overall mottled brown. Mallards feed on seeds, berries, plants, insects, and shellfish. They often upend themselves in search of food, leaving just their tail ends sticking up in the air.
They nest in a shallow hollow in moist earth, lined with grass, leaves, and twigs that the female drags into the nest. Young birds - called cygnets - leave the nest within hours of hatching and can often be seen forming a long line and trailing behind their mother.
I share the river with the mallards and moorhens - they don't bother me. We just get on with our own things. When you are ready, move along to the end of the quays, by the slipway, to find the next post.
When you get to the next post PRESS THIS BUTTON