Tag Archives: breeding

Mallard hen with duckling

Sole survivor

By mid-July on the Rideau River this mallard hen has only one of her brood left. She will have started out with a brood of six to eight newly hatched ducklings in May-June, but ducklings fall prey to seagulls, snapping turtles and other predators very easily. Chances are the surviving duckling will not survive its first year of life. This is the reality in the natural world: 85% of the birds and animals born in spring do not last a year, but enough do last long enough to breed the following spring and perpetuate their species.

Photographed and posted by Geoffrey

Eastern kingbird

Eastern kingbird viewed while out for a run with Hera, my friend Jason Quinn and his dog Nos, June 17, 2013. The eastern kingbird is a plucky species of flycatcher common in the area. I see a few mated pairs every spring nesting in shrubs along the Rideau River. They are usually successful at rearing their broods as they mount a spirited defense of their nest and young, driving away crows especially. The often perch on the wires in the background, watching for the insects on which they prey, snatching them out of the air.

Photographed and posted by Geoffrey

Red-winged blackbird on her nest

Female red-winged blackbird on her nest in the reeds at the edge of a pond next to the Rideau River, May 18, 2013.

Photographed and posted by Geoffrey.

Mallard drakes post mating season

Bachelor drakes hanging out together on a pond next to the Rideau River May 16, 2013. Their work is done, the hens they bred are incubating clutches of eggs and will be raising the broods of ducklings on their own.

Photographed and posted by Geoffrey.

Red-winged blackbird nest

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Red-winged blackbird nest

Red-winged blackbird nest in the cattails in a pond next to the Rideau River, May 2, 2013. I will keep an eye on this nest over the next several weeks, from a safe distance, to see how the blackbirds make out in their effort to raise a brood of chicks.

Photographed and posted by Geoffrey