The Big Dust-Up

 Hey! Hey, you stupid ducks! Break it up out there! I had topped a rise at one of the upper ponds when I noticed the racket nearby in the water, water that has been drawing an unusual number of waterfowl this year. I immediately assumed it was two drakes fighting over a lone hen, while a third drake hovered nearby waiting to see who came out on top. While that is probably the case, I also noticed that the female wasn't exactly making any serious attempt to get away. Maybe this was something else entirely, and I thought of that terrific sounding song by Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane: 

"... Sister lovers, water brothers

And in time maybe others

So you see what we can do is to try something new

If you're crazy too, I don't really see

Why can't we go on as three."

(Van Courtlandt Crosby)

Well, alright then. Carry on, I suppose. 

But no, it was not the case. No doubt the hen was haplessly caught in the middle of the duel for her affections. Then again, since mallards apparently meet up in November / December, perhaps the hen was taking an active part in helping her chosen mate fight off an unwanted intruder? I don't know, but whatever the case, the battle went on for quite a while and took the combatants (and that one inquisitive lurking spectator) from one side of the pond to the other. 

Never know what you'll see when you get out there, in the Out There.