Anas platyrhynchos - mallards

Summer Ducks

One Saturday in August several years ago, my friend Tom and I made our way up a creek which led off the Potomac River and wound through the marsh for a couple of miles before becoming too narrow to navigate even in our small inflatable boat. Far back from the river, we came upon a small landing jutting into the swamp. Around the landing was a  raft of juvenile mallard ducks.

Juvenile hens and drakes look alike

We stopped and got out of the boat to stretch our legs and look at the ducks. After a few minutes, a four-wheel drive truck pulled up and a man and his young son got out of the truck, grabbed a cloth sack from the back and began to scatter corn for the ducks.  The boy and his father fed the ducks in a business-like manner; it was clear that these ducks were not pets.

After they had finished and were putting the feed back into the truck, we walked over, introduced ourselves and asked about the ducks.

"Well, " the duck man said, "in the spring I buy these hatch-ling ducks, and we raise them up in a pen at home. My boy helps feed them and he keeps the pen clean. When they are old enough, we bring them out here and turn them loose. They hang around together and we come out and keep 'em fed." The boy sat silent on the tail gate and looked out over the ducks. As his father talked, he occasionally nodded his head.

"The corn not only keeps 'em fed, but it will bring in the wild ducks too. Then these ducks will take up with the wild ducks, and after a while fly away with them. Come duck hunting season, we should have right many ducks on this creek." He slammed the tailgate and they got back in the truck. "I better get this boy home for his lunch. See you around. " "Bye," said the boy and they drove off.

Duck Blind

After the duck man and his son left, we took a walk down the dirt road they drove in on. When we got back to the landing, the ducks swam toward us, expecting more corn.

I pictured a string of mallards flying over the marshes on a crisp November morning. The wild ducks see humans and think "DANGER." Their hand raised cousins think "CORN!" It doesn't seem quite fair.

We did not see a wild duck all day.