This morning when Skye and I did our walk around the pond, I glanced out on the water and noticed a ripple where a diving duck had gone under for some food. When it got back to the surface I saw that it was a Barrow’s Goldeneye. When the female popped up, I realized there was a pair of them. Unlike a lot of ducks, they are pretty tolerant of having people around and don’t fly off or swim to the far side. So I got to view and film what happened next.
As I watched them, I noticed that the brown-headed female lowered her head flat with the water. This behavior I had seen before in female Wood Ducks, as a precursor to mating. The male must have got the signal, because he started acting weird. He kept raising one leg out of the water as he swam around her. This interaction went on for a while, then finally the male positioned himself behind the female and mounted her, pushing her down into the water and sometimes under the water.
Once on top of the female, he grabbed the back of her head with his beak, and then it was all over. It seems like the female always gets the worst of the deal, in this case being pushed under the water and having the back of her head pulled on. Oh well, I didn’t write the script.
It always makes me feel good to see ducks and other plants and animals doing their life roles on the pond. That is why I built it, I wanted to attract wildlife and create habitat for them.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant.ca
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