We have a family of wild ducks living in the river beside Ponte a Serraglio. They are not very wild. People feed them bread and they come when they are called.
the duck family
the white duck
As well as the wild ones, there is a white duck who has been passing himself off as one of the family ever since I have been coming here. He has been joined recently by a goose. The word is, that someone bought the goose to eat for Christmas and when the time came they couldn’t kill it, so they set it free in the river. He too, has taken to our river like a duck to water and we hear him honking at all times of the day and night.
the lucky goose
he spots and apple
good shot
Most of our visitors love them, in spite of the noise, and often refer to “our ducks”. The colony hasn’t grown much. Despite the attentions of the man I call Duckman, few ducklings make it past ducklinghood. He has built nests for the brooding mothers in his front yard and high on the steps from the river, but the poor little things get picked off by the crows and eagles when they venture out. The drakes seem to outnumber the females, which makes for interesting birdwatching in the mating season. I hope our little colony survives. I love to see them living their lives in our river.
Gorgeous ducks. We too used to have a pet goose on the river here in Brisbane, until he was removed to safer ground down near the moth of the river!
By: mary D on November 6, 2010
at 4:19 am
Oh yes. We stayed in this beautiful area in Sept. and loved watching the ducks and the goose at any time of the day, especially at dusk. Deb you would be able to feed them from your appartemento. Lucky.
Cheers Judy.
By: Judy on November 6, 2010
at 8:56 am
I can feed them from my balcony or my living room window. I love watching them.
By: bagnidilucca on November 6, 2010
at 10:57 am
I love ducks and geese too! Although we have a very noisy bird outside the window at the moment!
By: Lorraine NotQuiteNigella on November 6, 2010
at 12:16 pm
It’s like having your own private David Attenborough moment outside your door, Deb. Thanks for taking the pics, gorgeous birds! I hope some of the ducklings have better luck soon…
By: Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial on November 6, 2010
at 8:28 pm
That would be lovely being able to feed them from your balcony. They are such funny birds to watch.
By: cityhippyfarmgirl on November 6, 2010
at 9:21 pm
We’ve got some ducks down on the lake too.., love feeding those little quackers too. Wonderful pics Deb.
By: Anna Johnston on November 7, 2010
at 8:01 pm
i like when people take care of animals. it is a sign of goodness. xx
By: ilias/gl on November 9, 2010
at 12:50 am
Ten days ago we had very heavy rains and the river grew rther high. The water was flowing very very strongly and made a good deal of noise. The white duck eith saw a girl friend and joined her or else the river carried him a good deal down: luckily we have Allighiero (the duck man) who looks after the ‘community’ and he went down to the place where our white duck had taken regue and brought him back up to the Ponte. I was glad to see him back: when I opened the windows in the morning and he wasn’t there, I felt rather sad.
Tina
By: tina birri on November 9, 2010
at 9:09 am
I am glad the white duck is back. I didn’t see him after i took the photo. I’m pleased to hear he was just on holidays in another part of the river.
By: bagnidilucca on November 9, 2010
at 10:12 am
I think mallards nest in trees? I used to live on the river Thames and we always had ducks roosting in the shelter of the willow trees at the bottom of our garden. Maybe they need a duck house or something like that to swing the odds in the favour of duckling survivial http://www.coopedup.co.uk/userimages/DUCK-HOUSES-and-GOOSE-HOUSES%281128863%29.htm
By: Joanna @ Zeb Bakes on December 10, 2010
at 8:35 am
Duck man does a pretty good job. It is when the poor little mites take to the river that they get picked off. You can see the crows and eagles circling them, waiting fior the mother to look away. Nature can be cruel. Thank you for the info, I will pass it on.
By: bagnidilucca on December 10, 2010
at 11:00 am
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at 10:49 am
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By: Feeding the ducks at Ponte a Serraglio « Bagni di Lucca and Beyond on November 24, 2011
at 6:01 am