Mallard fight: circling and splashing...

Much more effective in large ("L"): splashes and water look less like noise...

I visited Eagle Pond this afternoon; it was bitterly cold and the light was very bad, so I didn't stay for very long.

The funniest moment of the day was when the wind blew a large fallen leaf towards one of the fledglings which then totally freaked out: the leaf bounced up and got stuck to the fledgling's front, and it leapt backwards (with its neck extended, and its eyes looking wild) as if it was being attacked, and only stopped wriggling and recoiling backwards when the leaf fell off and blew away... The wind in fact had them all on edge: the parents started honking during a long and hard gust, and the whole family made for the edge of the pond at pace (the fledglings all "peeping" as if they hadn't grown up at all), and stayed there on high alert until the wind (and their frenzy) died down.

It seems all of the creatures were being a bit mad and reactionary: these two mallards got into a rather dramatic fight. They seemed both to be trying to bite the other's tail, so ended up whizzing around in a tight circle chasing each other and flapping and biting (my mother described it as "a whirlpool of fury"). They created quite a scene, and were at it (circling...) for more than 30 seconds until one scarpered off.