Spring 2017: Brood #1 hatched!
We have had quite a day! Quakie had been sitting on her eggs for 35 days and we got increasingly worried over the last week, not knowing if any would […]
Category Archives: communication
Observations on intraspecies and inter-species communication (how ducks talk to each other and with humans)
Spring 2017: Quakie’s brood overdue?
The weather at this time of the year here can be pretty unpredictable. We had a spate of warm weather in March – it was like summertime! Then April came, […]
Spring 2017: Tipsy arrives and causes chaos
Tipsy Returns Home! We received a nice surprise this morning in the form of Quakie’s sweet-faced and good-natured sister, Tipsy. She was the last to leave us in 2015 and […]
Spring 2017: Quakie makes herself at home
From her first appearance in February and until the day Quakie decided to nest in our garden this year, she had acted rather distant towards us, not allowing us to […]
Spring 2017: Changing partners?
A few days ago, I noticed something strange about Frankie. If this drake were indeed Frankie! Quakie’s current beau – who has been with her since she returned two weeks […]
Ducklings Week 8: Flight training – intermediate level!
The duckies are in full flight-training mode now. Basic training, just a few days ago, consisted of flying a few inches off the ground for a few metres before landing, […]
Ducklings Week 8: Duck Personalities
Time since hatch day: 7 weeks and 2 days The ducks are growing bigger and hungrier every day. Our supply of vegetables is depleted very quickly these days. Just between […]
Ducklings Week 8: Ducks learn to order food
The ducklings are exactly 7 weeks old today. To me they seem equivalent to humans in their mid-teens; they are eating all the time, their voices are changing, they want […]
Ducklings Week 7: Quakie uses duck sign language
I got up late today, at almost 10 am. The ducks always seem to know when we wake – they can see us through the windows or perhaps hear us. […]
Ducklings Week 7: Flight training and foraging
The ducks are almost 7 weeks old and their flight feathers seem quite fully formed, but are not quite ready to fly yet. They however seem to feel the need […]
