Spring has sprung!

Spring has definitely arrived - the trees are in blossom, the tadpoles are swimming and Dave is feeling amorous. Dave is our Pekin duck who has lived with us since last September along with his girls: Dora, Dolly and Daphne. Dave is unusual in the duck world as he's not keen on water and only reluctantly steps into the pond for a preen occasionally [This leaves me with no choice but to draw comparison with my two teenagers of the male variety :)]. Dave rarely swims in the pond, spending a lot of time just watching the other 3 swimming about, but when he does he has a very unusual technique, looking as if he might capsize at any time. At the moment Dave's focus takes the form of Daphne, a very beautiful crested Appleyard. Daphne is good looking and she knows it. A much less upright shaped duck than the other two girls, she has gorgeous patterned plumage and accessorises this with a matching crest on the top of her head. If she could wear lipstick and carry a handbag she probably would. However, its a case of you can look but don't touch as Daphne does her best to shun Dave's advances at all times. This is extremely comical as Dave and Daphne are the least agile of all the ducks. Dave's centre of gravity is so low that in his quest for love (when he's trying to run after Daphne) he has been known to fall over. This requires one of us 10-toers to roll him back onto his side so that he can get himself up as, if you've ever seen a duck on his back, there's no way he would ever be able to do this himself. Daphne, on the other hand, can't really run at all. She has very short legs and an extremely rotund body which makes her look as if she is never hassled and always does everything very slowly, serenely and in her own time. It's a good job Dave's not so agile otherwise poor Daphne would have no chance!