The Donald Street Ducks

Bye bye Blue. Then there were two.

2011-11-04T08:47:00.001-07:00

I found Blue this evening when I wet to put the ducks away. Ben and ranger wouldn't go back to the hut. I found blue badly damaged by a raccoon. I said sorry and good bye and put him to sleep. Sorry blue.

Dommminnoooooo!

2011-06-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

An individual in our flock has disappeared.

Damn. Thursday night Domino, one of our girl ducks, disappeared. No signs or clue of a raccoon attack, no mass of feathers, no trail, nothing. It's like she was plucked clean from the yard by a hawk or the hand of someone, that would be pretty amazing. No loud quacks or upset by the group. D. went out to put them away, and could not find her.

*sigh*

She was my favorite. I know, I know, I shouldn't be attached, but damn, she was the best little hunter, independent (probably her downfall) yet social with the group. Not the easy girl in the group. She was quiet (another downfall) and had a pretty soft little quack.

Friday morning the boys were clearly looking for her. D. said as he put them away they immediately ran to the hut. Not their usual behavior. Usually they quack about and you have to walk them to the hut like a bunch of social middle school girls. We have a little hope that she found a way out and is somewhere in the neighborhood. I even walked around the following morning for signs of a duck somewhere in the neighborhood. Nuthing'.

I want to shout from the rooftop, Dommmiiinnnooooo! just like Stella and hope that she may come ambling down the sidewalk. I guess if you really love something, set it free. If this was her fate, I will accept the cycle of life and let her go. This is hard.

Well there's your problem

2010-10-10T18:04:00.001-07:00

Ben and ranger found their way in but couldn't get back out.

Morning ducks

2010-05-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Fresh eggs for breakfast, still warm from a duck sitting

This morning was one of the few times when I've quietly walked up to the duck hut, and still find everyone in the hut. Typically when I let the quackers out in the morning, I walk to the hut talking to the group, and the quacking conversation begins. This morning I was hoping to peek into the hut from above to see who might be sitting on the eggs. Some days the egg(s) are still warm-one of the girls sits on the eggs in the morning. Perhaps it's both, but I have a belief it is Domino. Ranger just seems too involved with the boys, but I could be wrong. I have observed when the group is in the main duck run in the morning, Domino saunters out of the hut just as I walk up or open their door. So I believe it's time to quietly walk outside, and aim for a peek to see who is sitting on the eggs in the morning.

Both D. and I have observed that Ben is a water hog. Fresh water in the tub? Ben's in! Which duck flies/hops to the goldfish pond? Ben! What about the little black tub with fresh water? Ben is the first testing the waters. The girls appear to be content to hunt with Big Blue keeping watch as Ben takes his time in the water.

Bamboo Fence

2010-04-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

But the shade garden is so tasty!

Bring to a boil, simmer 3 minutes

2010-03-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Www.goldfishgarage.com

A New Egg Basket

2010-03-11T20:13:00.001-08:00

Night life San Diego Style

2010-03-04T22:14:00.001-08:00

Ducks San Diego Style

2010-03-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

A Fist Full of Dandelions

2010-02-23T16:13:00.001-08:00

Soft boiled egg with truffle salt

2010-02-23T16:09:00.001-08:00

A weekends worth

2010-02-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Oour first dozen

2009-12-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

The girls are giving us two eggs a day. I see a quiche in our future...

A Second Egg, Breakfast for Dinner

2009-12-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

First Egg 5 months 7 days

2009-11-30T20:29:00.000-08:00

Peas in a pod

2009-08-31T23:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason they all wanted to be in the bowl at the same time.

The New Duck Bowl

2009-08-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

The ducks have a new bowl. It's the bottom 6 inches of a 55 gallon
barrel. For thier safety I used a blow tourch to fire polish the
edge. It melts all the saw marks rounding the edge of the plastic.

Dive dive dive

2009-08-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

Ben Aflack likes to be under water.

Taller

2009-07-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

Out with the old, in with the new, the duck's feathers are coming in! With new feathers, comes height, and their voices are officially changing. There's a quack here and there. We think we know who it is, but not quite positive. A few times I've thought there is a voice that sounds like a bad bagpipe quack! Either way the individual duck personalities are beginning to show along with their different voices.

The Green House

2009-07-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

A couple coats of high gloss paint.

Ducks, Dawn and Joe Purdy

2009-07-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

The song is "Wash Away (Reprise)" by my favorite musician Joe Purdy from the album "Julie Blue."

I first learned of Joe by a simple twist of fate. I was at the 5th Street Market in Eugene for lunch one random workday about 4 years ago. We ate out in the fountain area and there was a band playing. They were touring on the CD Julie Blue and it was the first CD I purchased in a decade (you know Napster and all). Joe is simply the best. They had the entire place wrapped in sound and I was instantly hooked. I believe it was "I love the rain the most" and the lyrics:

"Well, the dark waves, they start singing together I can't believe this change in the weather

I start to hum a child's rhyme And all these boats, they start rocking in time

And I love the rain the most when it stops

Yes, we love the rain the most when it stops Yeah when it stops."

They had the whole place "Rockin' in Time" you can even hear the guitars playing the parts of the lapping waves as they hit the boats.

First Night

2009-07-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

We are forming routines together, the ducks and us. The flock spent their first night outside in the hut and all went well. Early this morning we moved them outside of the hut (still working on a door to the hut) and they were off foraging. Picking strawberries I realized it was a little too quiet. Checking on the flock, I found them next to the large Rubbermaid tub peeking out at me. I figured they were either foraging in the compost or they were trying to figure out how to get up to the water in the tub. I chose the latter and put them in a for a morning swim, and then they were on to good eats and a nap here and there. I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship- ducks outside and loving life.

Every so often we'll hear the flock moving and talking, which I've learned the louder they become they are looking for one of us. It is very sweet to have a group of ducks waddle up , settle near one of us and continue eating, sitting, or just babbling in their constantly changing duck voices.

The Duck Butt Hut

2009-07-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

DIY duck waterer

2009-07-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

Who can resist this face?

2009-07-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Little Blue Peep, 23 days

The deep pond and a handful of duckweed

2009-07-02T00:58:00.000-07:00

"I've got your back"

2009-06-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Solo had to be with the ducks

2009-06-22T19:14:00.001-07:00

What do you do with all the bedding?

2009-06-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

Guard Duty

2009-06-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Web Foot

2009-06-21T00:41:00.000-07:00

The Peeps

2009-06-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

The garden has a few new residents. They are Ancona ducklings hatched on Thursday 11 June 2009. The are a medium breed that produces about 250 eggs per year per bird. They are from local breeders, who have great stock from well known sources.