Mallard…

……………….......….Drake


Backblip for yesterday (Thursday)


This colourful male is looking dapper in the golden late afternoon light.


I found the following information on the NZ Birds Online website…
“ The New Zealand mallard population is derived from 17 small importations of gamefarm mallards from England between 1870 and 1930, and two later imports of birds and eggs from a gamefarm in Connecticut, USA. Acclimatisation Societies subsequently bred and released over 30,000 mallards throughout New Zealand until 1974, by which time the mallard had become the most common waterfowl in the country. Extensive hybridisation with the native grey duck followed soon after their initial release and the mallard competitively excluded grey ducks from most wetlands, especially those in and near urban environments and in pastoral landscapes. As a consequence of both their gamefarm origin and hybridisation, the plumages of New Zealand’s mallards are highly variable, especially the females, and males in breeding plumage are duller and less striking than wild northern hemisphere mallards.”



Thank you for the comments, stars and hearts for the autumn scene glowing in the end of day sunlight. Internet issues last night and a busy day today have delayed this blip and me responding to you and your journals. 



Coronavirus - Day 36 of Lockdown in NZ
 Third day of Alert Level 3
Total coronavirus cases in NZ 1476  
New cases today 3
Death Toll across NZ remains at 19
Number in Hospital 7
Recovered from Coronavirus  1241 ( now 84% of all cases )
Total number of people tested for virus across NZ  134,570