I remember visiting this old medieval abbey last year. It was built on top of a hill, and at the bottom you had a river with an small island where you could have a picnic on wooden tables and benches.
No sooner did you step on the island that a flock of Mallards would come out of the river and surround your table, staying just out of reach, but clearly hoping for some bread or chip.
Once you began feeding them, there always was one brave soul, usually a female, wandering right next to you, at your feet, never flying on the bench or the table where all the food was, but waiting patiently to be given something, picking the food from your fingers.
I could have bought a dozen baguettes just to feed these Mallards, they really were a show all by themselves !
These were acting much the same way; they'd all rush up to surround us, but when it became clear that we had no food, most of them went back to grazing. Except this one in the photo, who followed me around with that "are you *sure* you don't have any food for cute li'l me" look.
As I mentioned above, the most brazen (and funny) ones were the adults who were playing babysitter; they marched the small flock of goslings right up to the back door of one of the apartments near the lake and waited until the woman who lived there came out to feed them.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-07-02 12:41 pm (UTC)No sooner did you step on the island that a flock of Mallards would come out of the river and surround your table, staying just out of reach, but clearly hoping for some bread or chip.
Once you began feeding them, there always was one brave soul, usually a female, wandering right next to you, at your feet, never flying on the bench or the table where all the food was, but waiting patiently to be given something, picking the food from your fingers.
I could have bought a dozen baguettes just to feed these Mallards, they really were a show all by themselves !
no subject
Date: 2007-07-03 05:11 pm (UTC)As I mentioned above, the most brazen (and funny) ones were the adults who were playing babysitter; they marched the small flock of goslings right up to the back door of one of the apartments near the lake and waited until the woman who lived there came out to feed them.