Quackers

More footage...

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:26:00 +0000

Greetings my friends of the feather,

I have to thank the majority of you for adhering to the advice from Wonder Performance regarding the feeding of super bread to the ducks... Of course now that this campaign has been launched to save the ducks there has been even more video evidence released showcasing these special ducks. www.dontfeedtheducks.com.au has most of these videos attached to the site, in the news section. Many of these grabs have been captured due to tip offs on the 1800 223 220 number flashed up on the TV commercial.

Please remain vigilant friends in this uncertain time.

Malcolm

Global Duck Tracker GPS

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Now that the duck is out of the bag the good people at Wonder Performance have received further correspondence from others witnessing duck activity around the globe. With the assistance of some friends who have access to weather tracking equipment we have been able to tweak the system to follow the new migratory paths of these "super" ducks. I simply cant believe the fact that these ducks have made it as far India and beyond, please see the interesting activity on the website. Im so glad that Wonder Performance is taking responsibility for their actions...

Malcolm

WONDER PERFORMACE BREAD TOO MUCH FOR DUCKS!

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:05:00 +0000

We've done it. Over the weekend Max and i confronted the makers of Wonder Performance Bread with indisputable evidence that their product was entirely unsuited to the constitution of ducks and was in fact driving them to extraordinary behaviour more suited to a group of rowdy teenagers than the gracious, gentle, plumy activities of the magnificent genus Anas!!!

To their credit, Wonder Performance took immediate action and last night aired this commercial which clearly points out that their bread is designed ONLY for teens, and NOT for Ducks.

Wonder Performance also asked me to act as their special 'Duck Expert' while they deal with the issue; a role i'm proud to accept on behalf of all friends of the duck.

So please, if you'd like to see ducks gracing our ponds and waterways, and not surfboards and shopping malls, please, please, please remember that Wonder Performance Bread is for Teens and NOT for ducks.

Stay turned here or visit the Wonder Performance website (www.dontfeedtheducks.com.au) for updates on our efforts to protect this fine animal for the danger of high performance bread.

NB: Post comments to this blog if you need help in keeping this bread away from our finely feathered friends

Anas also big in Japan!

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:42:00 +0000

Well it seems the news is spreading. The strange duck behaviour that's being spotted all over Australia, and got picked up by the US news, has now also found it's way onto Japanese TV. No idea what they're saying, but it's clearly our same gaggle of Anas platyrhynchos.

I've been digging into this further with Max, and we've uncovered some conclusive proof that there is a link between this extraordinary duck behaviour and a local brand of bread!!!!

We can't say anything yet, but once we've discovered the exact brand and real nature of the bread's performance enhancing aspects, we'll reveal all here.... check back soon!

What's happening to my Anas!?!? Is it the bread?

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:34:00 +0000

My fellow duck loving friend Max (or to be more accurate, my Anas rhynchotis-loving friend. He does love his Shovelers, while i have a soft spot for the good old Anas chlorotis, but i digress), just sent me these frankly shocking video.

Here we see a flock of what appears to be Anas platyrhynchos flying in what can only be described as a distinctly performance-enhanced manner!

At first glance they don't appear to be of the North American family, so i can only say that i'm starting to agree with Max that it's something in the local food supply. There appears to be bread on the surface of the pond.... a link there perhaps?

Maybe too early to say, but a quick search across the world wide web reveals still further evidence of a possible link between bread, or perhaps a certain type, and unusual duck behaviour. Observe the frenzy of activity this single slice causes!

I'm sure there is a bread-behaviour link and i'm determined to get to the bottom of this before there are some real problems with my beloved Anas

I'd love to hear your comments on a duck behaviour-bread link, so please comment below!

American news...

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:02:00 +0000

This grab from an American news station landed in my inbox early today... I can't believe it myself! Is it just youtube that allows this footage to be shared globally and somehow make the "lighter side" of the news report? I don't feel this is such a laughing matter, the surfing duck is incredible but what of that flying? or the ducks in the shopping centre? I'm glad people realise this is newsworthy but we need to find out why this is happening!!! What could be making the ducks act in this way?

Strange behaviour linked numbers or diet?

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:03:00 +0000

While this unusual surge in strange duck behaviour is certainly ruffling my feathers, i thought i'd hark back to a little tidbit of information from last year that gave me a lot of personal solace: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) preliminary report on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats.

It found that overall duck populations had increased 14 percent since the previous year with an estimated 41.2 million breeding ducks found in the surveyed area. Fantastic stuff and heart warming news for a friends of the duck

But...

i'm not usually one for conspiracy theories and the like, but could things like this; an unusually large number of breeding ducks, and the strange instances we've been getting reports on be linked? Has this bulge in ducks numbers caused some of the more robust individuals to make an extended flight down south and perpetrate the Anatidae antics we've been seeing?

Or, as Max speculates, is it linked somehow to new carbs and proteins they're eating?

YOur thoughts?
I'm going to dig further.

More Duck evolution

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:04:00 +0000

Greetings my feather loving friends. I've been baffled ever since I saw that duck "surfing" footage shot on the south coast and I have been digging deep, looking into this amazing video. I am finding some strange things in duckland... from near and abroad.

Also I have heard back from my dear old friend maxwell at who says that he too has been worried about the food that the common duck of the eastern seaboard has been eating. Max says he finds that while the ducks once scavenged or hunted, with the recent constant "seachange" influx that the ducks are being fed by humans and are actually relying on these meals... The ducks are growing noticeably larger fueled by a diet of pure carbohydrate including hot chips and (primarily) bread.

Thank you to one kind duck advocate who alerted me to this strange footage. If you can make sense of any of it please advise....

Nature or Nurture?

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:35:00 +0000

I was recently doing a little online research and discovered this quite extraordinary video on youtube of this duck riding on some young chap's surf board. It's the most peculiar thing. I don't know whether he's trained it to perform this trick (as I do know ducks have acute learning abilities) or it's simply a remarkable freak of nature and the duck has landed on his board. I might look further into this.

A photo

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:03:00 +0000

The sun was shining this morning and I felt inspired to shoot a few frames out on the pond. I'm beginning to enjoy the new digital camera and it's instant gratification, the colours are on par with a lot of prints, although nothing will come close to the vivid colors of shooting transparencies.

Regardless, meet "hombre", he loves the water and socialising!

Harry's Practising with some ducks

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:35:00 +0000

I've been doing some reading and reminiscing on the days of Australian television where animals became stars of the small screen. Don Burke and Dr Harry (pictured) featured wholesome animals and presented them in a way which warmed my feather loving heart. Today I see the only shows with animals in them are "Vet emergency" or "Circus Animal Mishaps", its horrible the way these animals are exploited for a half hour prime time slot, the shows produced for people with short attention spans.

The following is a shot taken on a property not unlike mine where Harry shot a "duck" segment for his programme. It looks like it was a lovely day!

In the shot you can see a duck which reminds me so much of my beloved "Whitebeard", my favorite feathered friend. He is right at the front of the shot, a white duck with a black patch over his eye and darker wing feathers. Always in trouble was Whitebeard but a lovelier duck I have never known.

So please petition the networks to bring back these shows with Dr Harry and Don Burke... Respect our wildlife!!!!

Big Ducks...

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:42:00 +0000

I spent my weekend in Sydney visiting my daughter and her family (she says I bought the rain with me) and I noticed some disturbingly odd things regarding the local feathered population. Not since Plucka-duck entertained us on "hey hey its Saturday" have I seen such an over fed and huge duck, but not just one! We spent Sunday around the Eastern suburbs beaches and I couldn't help but notice how massive many of the local ducks are. I guess the ducks eat more or only the larger stronger ducks survive here... I noticed that not many people were parting with their hot chips (it was a little cold that day after all) but many families were feeding the local ducks bread, almost by the loaf at the beach... If 10 families spend a Sunday afternoon feeding these birds it dawned on me that these ducks are eating a LOT of carbohydrate filled bread....
It was strange to see these slightly built willy-wag tails and other small natives of threatened species flying around these "superducks", the ducks did seem particularly boisterous.... like a pack of teens almost.

If anyone is noticing similar phenomenon please email me your thoughts. I'm particularly perplexed currently regarding these ducks, perhaps I might contact some friends in Sydney to see if they are aware of the same.
I'll keep you all posted.

liveducks.com

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:23:00 +0000

And I thought I loved ducks!!!!!!

Thanks for the site guys I get lost in liveducks.com for hours at a time. I'll try to bring the best bits to my blog.... there will always be a link from my site though.

Duck Icons

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:02:00 +0000

Some fun for the duck enthusiasts! My poll is up and running on the right of screen.... who is it going to be? (any extra contenders please advise me!!!)

DONALD or DAFFY

Also if anyone has any collectable merchandise featuring either of the 2 please let me know because as you know I love all things webbed!!

"Ducks & Geese"

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Just a nice video an old colleague from Oregon sent me of his grandchildren enjoying the "ducks and geese"

From Crackle: "Ducks & Geese"

SAVE THE BLUE BILLED DUCK

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:55:00 +0000

Friends,
We are all aware of the plight of the blue-bill particularly here on the east-coast of Australia, but recently things have become a little more dire. My friend Ian at NPWS has been working in the ongoing research into the blue-bill habitats around the Murray basin and in findings that are yet to be published he has told me that nothing is improving for the blue-bills...

Drought, forest fires, pesticide use and hunting is still threatening the species so please familiarise yourselves with the blue-bills so that we may still see them in the metropolitan beaches in summer as we once did in abundance. The sight of the males "mating time" blue bill is worth every effort in saving the species. Again look at

http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10580

Blue-billed Duck - profile

The Blue-billed Duck is one of only two Australian species of stiff-tailed ducks - diving ducks with spine-like tail-feathers. It is a small and compact duck, with a length of 40 cm. The male's head and neck are glossy black, and the back and wings are a rich, chestnut to dark-brown. During the summer breeding season the male's bill turns bright blue. The female is brownish-black above, with narrow bands of light brown and mottled light brown and black below. The female's bill is dark grey-green. In the non-breeding season the male resembles a dark female. The tail is usually held flat on the water, although during courtship, or when alarmed, it is held fully erect.

Distribution
The Blue-billed Duck is endemic to south-eastern and south-western Australia. It is widespread in NSW, but most common in the southern Murray-Darling Basin area. Birds disperse during the breeding season to deep swamps up to 300 km away. It is generally only during summer or in drier years that they are seen in coastal areas.

Pet Ducks

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:29:00 +0000

This post is for my young niece Jeniffer... Every time she comes to visit me she loves playing with the ducks around my property (especially is captivated by the cute little ducklings) and constantly she alludes to perhaps owning her own pet duck. I thought that I would post a link and some very useful advice regarding the best way to rear young ducklings so that you may have happy and healthy drakes and ducks! I know that all the ducks that I have come to know over the decades have each bought a piece of joy to my life and with this advice I know each of you can look after your flock as well as they look after you!

Ducks as Pets
Pet ducks will entertain you with their antics and eat pesky slugs and snails. A female will produce abundant eggs.

To look after ducklings all you need is a large cardboard box, some shavings or straw, a heat lamp, a feeder and a waterer. As they grow, they will need more space and less heat. Keep an eye on the birds; if they stay away from the heat, turn it off, if they get their pen messy quickly, they need more bedding and more space. By 5 or 6 weeks they can probably be outside all the time in good weather.

Ducks need a deep enough water bowl so they can dip their heads in water 2 or 3 times a day. They need to wash their eyes otherwise they can get dry eyes and cataracts.

A single pet duck can make a great pet but you should make sure you have enough time to devote to your duck. Make sure you get your duck very young or incubate the egg yourself and be the first thing he or she sees when it hatches. You will need to spend a lot of time bonding with your duck so that you and your family become the duck's flock. So you’ll need to devote yourself to playing and just being with your duck everyday, on top of the usual cleaning and feeding duties.

Ducks are social animals and will suffer if they don't have companionship. So if you can't make this commitment for the full 12 or so years a duck can live, you should get two or more ducks.

www.birddealer.com/australianpets/ducks

Ducks Revenge!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Please cast an eye over this piece of hilarity that I found whilst researching duck-hunt sites. Please notice my new uploaded video section on the right of the page and pay close attention to the grab at the top of the pile. After petitioning the shooting parties with varying results I'm so happy to see this grab which now resides in my "ducktube" (my feathered version of you-tube). I find the advertisement absolutely joyous and can't imagine a more perfect TV commercial. Please my duck enthusiast friends....Enjoy!

Strange duck behaviour

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:44:00 +0000

I have some interesting observations about duck behaviour to share.
I had a male called Peking. While’st very friendly, he was also very moody.
If I upset him in anyway he would take a bite out of my arm or leg.
In a good mood he would nibble me all over, but other times he would
bite and if I smacked him he would become enraged and attack me. I had to get rid of him
because I was never sure what mood he was in.

I kept two of his offspring, two females. Naturally one dominated the other
who was pretty shy, staying in the background while the other was very tame.
Lets call the friendly, dominant one No.1, the other

Surf Scoter seen at Manly Dam!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm Fitzpatrick) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:31:00 +0000

Extremely rare species of duck graces Sydney's north

The Surf Scoter is rarely seen outside North America but has been spotted on Manly Dam reservoir.

The black-feathered bird has an oddly-shaped, multi-coloured bill and usually lives along the coast.

Wayne Ball, a fellow duck lover, said: "It's put [the reservoir] on the map as a site for such birds."

Mussel eaters

"It's very nice to have the bird sighting here which is the first sighting in Sydney.

"Only four have been spotted inland in the state , and there's been less than 20 records in the country," he said.

The Surf Scoter is also known as the Goggle-nose or Horse-head Coot and has a pronounced hump on the top of its bill.

Hundreds of thousands of the birds spend the winter in the coastal waters off British Columbia in Canada.