Last March I watched a solitary Pekin duck
make close friends with a mallard
before matting a bed of grass on the rocky banks of Ridley Park Lake.
The Pekin, I’ve read, is a domesticated mallard,
bred in China for thousands of years before it was brought to New York in the 187os.
Paddling through the winter lake,
some stick close together,
especially this group of five,
which includes one duck curiously colored …
any ideas why?
.
Update: A reader’s close observations of these lake ducks lead me to agree that the the curious-looking gray one is, as she points out, an Indian Runner. For more, see the comments by brookeduffy. Thanks, Brooke!
