Funny Lookin' Mallard?

My book club met today in a lovely home with a small city pond next to it. The sun was out (2 days in a row- see another shadow!) so of course I had my camera and got some shots of all the mallards in the pond, but then I spotted this guy -- apparently there were two who arrived this spring but one has disappeared and now this one is chasing all the other ducks all over. He runs upright with his long neck, the others are shorter. This is mating season- I suspect there will be more odd looking black ones soon...

We read and very much enjoyed Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman, At Large and At Small. It's a wonderful group of women. I'll get a blip of them in June when they come to "camp" on the island....

Which is where H and I are off to tomorrow!