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.