Friday 4 December 2009

Wet embrace

This morning I witnessed the courtship play of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos/Wilde Eend). A few stages are shown in the following screenshots.
  • 3 excited ♂♂ surround a ♀. They all try to isolate her by chasing away the other ♂♂.
  • The dominant ♂, busy to make an impression. The ♀ seems not really interested.
  • But sometimes appearances are deceptive. A few seconds later: Intimate duck embrace.
  • Overview of the playground. I like this ‘bar-code’ image with just a few pixels in focus.

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