The Red-crested Pochard, a crown of a duck

 

Some ducks are just made up. Or so it seems. The Red-crested Pochard (Netta Rufina) is such duck. Because whilst it is a living and breathing bird, I always think of the poor bloke that has to inflate and paint these ducks every day to make them look nice. Their distinctive red bill is the feature that makes them stand out, but the rest of the colouring is not bad either.

The duck stems original from Asia and thrives very well in moderate climates, as long as there are lakes with enough vegetation on the bottom of it. Red-crested Pochards build a nest by the lakeside among vegetation and lay 8-12 pale green eggs. The birds' status in the British Isles is much confused because there have been many escapes and deliberate releases over the years, as well as natural visitors from the continent. However, it is most likely that they are escapees that are now breeding wild and have built up a successful feral population. (Source: Wikipedia)

So far I have only seen them in parks (with water) and not in the actual wild. Be it as it may, the duck is worth writing an entire blog about, even if the female duck is less colourful.

 

 

I have come across many ducks since I started taking pictures of nature, but this duck is always a pleasant surprise. Which reminds me of an event I witnessed with a mother with ducklings and an envious neighbour, in St. James’s Park. The four pictures below show what happened when the mother (left) was challenged by the other female (right).

 

There is not much more that can be said about this beautiful but funny duck. The Dutch name is Krooneend which means “crown duck”. And therefore I will share some crown jewels I took over the course of the last years.