My large garden pond in Cheshire usually supports about 6 Mallards at most in winter. For the last week numbers have been increasing and there were 40 yesterday. Just wondering where they have come from? Have they migrated due to drought conditions in southern England?
Hi, I can only hazard a guess but at the moment the adult mallards will currently be in mid moult when they shed old feathers and grow new ones which makes them temporarily less able to take flight and thus more vulnerable to predators and by gathering in larger numbers it offers them more protection; breeding season is at the end so the drakes tend to gather together and will currently be in what is referred to as "eclipse" plumage where their appearance resembles the females as they lose their brightly coloured breeding plumage and it becomes generally more mottled and duller. I have seen females post breeding season gathering with their young in large numbers; once I counted over 90 female mallards with their grown up young paddling down the river Wye near Monsall Dale in Derbyshire ! As we head towards the end of the year the drakes will start to pair up again with females as they have a long breeding season often beginning early in the new year through to July time.
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Regards, Hazel