Enjoying looking at – and feeding – the local ducks.
The pond in Emmer Green isn’t particularly unique, but there’s plenty to enjoy about it.
A pause by the pond in Emmer Green. It’s easy to just walk by. And, let’s face it, it is what it is. There are plenty of ponds up and down the country. With over-fed wildlife and parents and grandparents struggling to explain to youngsters just why it is that some of the ducks are showing such little interest in yet more bits of bread.
The Emmer Green ducks are a fairly predictable variety. But that said, the trio of white ones that are there are pretty well spot-on examples of the stereotypical farmyard duck. Alongside them, there’s the regular mallards, a some mandarin ducks, a coot or two … and the odd gull for good measure.
I kid you not, I did once see the smaller of the white ducks break up a squabble between two male mallards, which was both a tad bizarre and in some odd way quite delightful. That was one day last winter.
With three benches nearby to sit on and some shady grass for summer if you need it, it’s an easy-to-get-to refuge. No, with the road going by it’s not a quiet spot. But if you spend a little while here, more often than not you’ll see quite a few, and quite a variety, of (human) visitors – not just passers-by. That suggests it’s a valued place.
Going back to the subject of feeding ducks, a while back I came across this link on the BBC’s Good Food Guide (yes, really) about what to feed ducks. Surprisingly perhaps, bread isn’t strongly recommended. There are more details here – and it quotes the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ (RSPB) advice too.
