This challenge was a lot of fun. Since our Handbook of Nature Study book didn't have a lot of information specifically about ducks, after reading a bit in that we enjoyed reading our book Mallard Duck at Meadow View Pond aloud. If you haven't checked out this wonderful series of little books, please do. My boys love them! They are not only informative but really fun with gorgeous illustrations.
That evening we headed up to our local park with The Mister. Our town doesn't have much, but it does have a beautiful park! The boys rode their bikes up to the lake:
As soon as they saw us, the ducks came swimming as fast as they could:
There were about two dozen ducks clustered around the dock, and another dozen out further on the lake. Good thing we brought an entire loaf of bread!
We noticed that the mallard drakes were looking rather drab and ratty and remembered reading in our book that they mate in the spring. Since the drakes are so brightly colored in order to attract their mates, we surmised that they didn't have to look quite so handsome in the late summer and fall. ;)
We also talked about how ducks can interbreed, which results in ducks like this lovely one below. I explained it to Short Pants by comparing them to mutt dogs:
After the bread was gone we couldn't resist a ride/walk around the lake. Can you blame us?
Along the way we spotted this crested duck:
And a duck busy feeding under the water or "dabbling." Short Pants remembered from our book that the duck was probably looking for snails, fish eggs, or plants:
We even saw a goose - not a duck of course but still fun!
The Mister and I returned to the lake a few days later by ourselves while the boys were spending the night with my inlaws. We were enjoying a nighttime ride (the trail is lit by lights) at about 10pm when we noticed ducks out on the dark water. We were both surprised by this and wondered if they somehow slept out there, which we figured made sense as they would be safer from predators that way. Sure enough, a net search the next day confirmed that ducks often sleep out on the water and even will post "guards" so that the others can sleep even more safely. We shared our discovery with the boys, who thought it was very funny that anyone could sleep in water!
For me, simple things like this are what these challenges are about. Since the boys are so small, we don't focus a lot on facts, etc. What's most crucial at their age is that they experience nature, and most importantly enjoy being out in it. Through these challenges they are learning to be observers of this beautiful world around us.
