Mallards at the pond

A very soggy, windy, cold day it is today. But the driving rain is not deterring the birdies from flocking at and under the bird feeder. The quail were out in force, and I was even surprised to find one of them actually on the the bird feeder itself (which is fixed on top of a 6 ft. post with a squirrel baffle), duking it out with the House finches and Juncos.

A special treat, however, was the arrival of a pair of Mallard ducks at the pond. This was the second time we've seen Mallards on the property. The male swam around the water for a short time, then hopped up onto the nearby rocks to preen his feathers. It was really hysterical watching him do these amazing calisthenics as he stretched out one of his bright orange webbed feet at a 90 degree angle to his body, like one of those fab "blokey belles" of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo http://www.trockadero.org/.