Communication of Ducks!
On Friday we took our grand-daughter for a walk on the Dandenong Creek Trail starting from Wantirna Road. (More information on this section of the trail)
It was a cool but sunny day and she wanted to see the ducks.
We found a group of ducks plus some moorhens near the St David's Drive entrance to the trail.
Ducks usually congregate at this section of the creek especially as they know that passers-by might feed them. There were a number of other children also watching the ducks when we were there.
A white cockatoo in a nearby tree observed the passing parade.
A little further on two moorhens checked us out.
On the way back we stopped once more to watch the ducks. Before we arrived we heard a loud splash but the ducks were swimming around as normal when we arrived. Suddenly there was another splash as all the ducks disappeared under water at the same time. There was no obvious sign as to what instigated the dive but this manoeuvre was repeated about six times while we were there. Other passers-by stopped to watch and no-one had seen this behaviour before. Comments were made about synchronised duck diving!
When we went for another walk by this section of the creek on Sunday, ducks were in the same area swimming around contentedly.
Further along towards the footbridge near Armstrong Road we came across another group of ducks. A few were the brown ducks that normally frequent the creek but most of the ducks were a different breed that we had not seen in this area of the creek before.
We crossed the bridge and walked back on the other side of the creek. The ducks were still there but swimming in two groups. Suddenly one group of ducks took to the air and flew down the creek past the bridge. A few seconds later the second group did the same.
It would be interesting to know how ducks communicate so that they all respond to a situation, either diving sumultaneously or suddenly taking flight, at the same time.
See also other posts related to this topic:
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise - Walking on Shared Paths
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise - Dandenong Creek (1)
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise - Dandenong Creek (2)
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise - Dandenong Creek (3)
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise - Dandenong Creek (4)
COVID-19 Musings - Exercise - Dandenong Creek (5)
See also all pots relating to COVID-19
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