May 19, 2007

Birds etc.

Yesterday, I had again a walk in "my" park. I found this bird, just one meter in front of me. I have a question to Abraham or some other bird expert: Why is she neglecting these two eggs? I watched her maybe half an hour; she did not move.


There were also some baby birds around.



















... and of course some flowers.

Added May 20:





She (a goose, a duck...? - see comments) has turned around. I had the time to see that she is laying on three eggs. The two abandoned eggs are still there.



Further addition May 20:
I thank all of you who have contributed to find out what kind of bird this really is. It seems now that Nathalie has really found it: A Bar-headed Goose. I add the Wikipedia picture. Alice already suggested the same solution yesterday. Thanks to both of you!


Origin Asia. Wild it lives on high altidtudes, but adapts well to captivated life. It is believed to be the highest flying bird, having been seen up to 10,715 m (33,382 ft)! A danger for aircraft!







Addition May 21:

How long does it take before we see the babies? Today's situation: The future mother after having put some feathers and grass around her body, took a nap. She obviously does neither eat nor drink?


Her husband had a nice walk and did not seem to worry too much.

33 comments:

black feline said...

maybe she's suffering from post natal blues...lol

Martel said...

I like much the first photograph with the cane in his nest.

My blog photographs one Martel

Dina said...

lovely pictures, I too like the first one with the nest. Nice weekend

hpy said...

IVG?

Kunterbunt said...

So you have got your own park ;-)) Me, too. There are two not far away: one is a park with sculptures (not very well known in Cologne) and the Japanese Garden. 'Your' park is a beautiful one and there seem to be a lot of photo opportunities. It is always good to see that there is some 'green' in Paris.

Peter said...

hpy:
Some kind of birth control... Possible. Looking forward to some expert comments (which you are not I guess).

Peter said...

april:
This park is only one minute away and I have already made quite a number of messages about it (too many?), Square des Batignolles. There is nowadays a lot of "green" in Paris. Much have been done the last decades, fortunately.

Chuckeroon said...

Wow...7 comments already! Anyway..you deserve them.

Mug=Dunoon Stoneware, a pottery in Dunoon on the River Clyde. Yes, I'm good..I do eat the fruit.

Enjoy your day!

Anonymous said...

Hello Peter,
It is now 6:10 a.m. in the morning here in Ohio. It is cold. The furnace is running. I hope it doesn't frost and kill everything, "again."

Your duck is magnificent. A real beauty. What more can one say, as this lady duck is from Paris, where beautiful women are everywhere, and ducks too.

I am not able to tell you the correct name of this duck since she comes from France and is not shown in any of my 4 reference books about birds. I am guessing she is native to your area or to Europe.

Ducks and other birds usually can handle a given number of eggs. If 2 or more are abandoned, like this, it usually means she is already setting on the number she can take care of. Or...

Perhaps those are not her eggs and she knows it.

In other words, for example, while she was off in the water getting a drink or something to eat, another duck laid two eggs in her nest and left.

There are birds that do that in this country and never ever raise their own offspring -- our "brown-headed cowbird" lays eggs in other bird nests and leaves and the other bird raises their chicks.

So, I am guessing this duck knows those are not her eggs and has ignored them. Or......

Like all birds, if the eggs are destroyed or lost, the female is then ready to be impregnated again by a male duck, and she will lay eggs again.

So, maybe this duck is one of those, and how do you say, "whore," in French?

Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo

Peter said...

Thanks very much Abraham!!!

The word you are looking for is "putain". I would however be disappointed if this nice bird is one of those. I will try to follow the development.

EMNM said...

Poor duck!!! she´s not a "putain" hehehe, maybe her eggs are very hot and need cold.

Emilieee said...

Love the first picture. And the duckling in the 3rd picture is so cute :D Where is it actually? Your park?

Kate said...

I loved the exchange between you and Abe! Putain, indeed; stop defaming that poor duck!!

Shammickite said...

Abraham has an answer for everything, as usual! Your duck is lovely, I have never seen one qith this colour plumage.

isa said...

Just ducky!
She does not look "loose" to me ;-)

Anonymous said...

Me again...

I never knew the correct word was "putain" and I don't think ducks are like that. Still, it would be great for me, to know what happens to those two eggs. It would be nice if she would adopt them too.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate seeing your there.

Peter said...

Just went to have a new check today. The two eggs are still laying as they were. She moved a little bit while I was watching. I believe I saw three eggs under her. More reports will follow.

alice said...

According to my Peterson's book ("Oiseaux de France et d'Europe"), this nice duck could be a goose, a bar-headed goose to be precise, coming from Sweden.

Peter said...

Personally I hardly recognise more than sparrows, swallows and pigeons, swans... However, somebody in the park, to whom I talked today (when I rechecked how she was doing) also pretended that it's a goose.

If it is from Sweden, I should of course have recognised it from "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Holgerson", by Selma Lagerlöf, a compulsory book for a young Swede. Nils travelled around Sweden, riding on a goose, which I imagine must have been Swedish.

Thanks very much Alice for this important research job you have done!!

Mona said...

those two don't look like duck's eggs!

But how the hell did they come there!...could it be another bird?

Maybe they are someone else's eggs!

Peter< such beauty on your blog! I Love the ducks & the flowers. You hav such a fresh looking haven here!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Beautiful pictures! The first is amazing!

Have a good weekend!

hogrelius said...

På dessa bilder ser man hur långt våren har kommit nere hos dig.Här har allting stannat av ett tag .Kylan kom ju åter!

lyliane six said...

J'ai lu quand j'étais "plus jeune" les aventures de Nils, j'aimais beaucoup les contes, surtout d'Andersen, c'est peût être pour cela que je crois encore au père Noël!!

Cergie said...

Une sorte de canard...
Et des canetons
Dans un parc d'attraction animalier près de Lilles il y avait des tas de canards différents et malheureusement ils s'étaient croisés entre eux, comme font les chiens tu sais et le résultat n'était pas terrible.
Tu imagines !

En bas : une campanule. Pas encore fleuries les campanules dans mon jardin de Cergy. Mais comme tu l'as vu, les mésanges sont sorties du nid...

hpy said...

Ton canard ressemble un peu à un eider mâle!

Cergie said...

Tu vois, Peter, je me faisais une autre idée des connaissances ornitologiques d'un homme concitoyen de Nils Holgerson !
Ton commentaire sur Cergipontin m'a fait hurler de rire !
(Je me doutais un peu, remarque, de ce que tu m'as dit...)

Nathalie H.D. said...

Glad there are still 3 other eggs she is looking after. It will be great to see what becomes of them and what they turn out to be.

Le voyage de Nils Holgerson, c'est le livre que j'ai eu comme prix d'excellence en primaire...

Nathalie H.D. said...

Elle est très belle, ta photo. Et la dame aussi. Je suis choquée que cette bonne mère de famille se fasse ainsi traiter de tous les noms !!!

Nathalie H.D. said...

Just had a look at the wikipedia for the bar headed goose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-headed_Goose

I suggest you go and have a look, it's exactly that. What a beautiful bird !

Anonymous said...

I am glad you got the name of the bird right. My reference books only show North American birds and geese.

It is a fine looking goose.

I don't really know why the eggs were abandoned. Did you ever "candle" an egg. THat is to hold it above the flame of a candle (very briefly) and look through the shell to see if a chick or baby is formed inside? You can do it nowadays with a flashlight. You might take one egg and pick it up and shine a light through it and see if a baby is inside.

It will not make any difference now as she has not set on it and anything inside would be dead now. It will end up being a rotten egg.

Thanks for coming back to my site and telling me you got the correct name.

Peter said...

Thanks Abraham. One always learn something with you.

Yes, in this particular case, I believe it's too late to try light the candle. In any case, even if I could possibly reach one of the eggs, I'm sure my fingers would suffer from her noozle.

Shionge said...

Oh this is really fascinating Peter and you have been so observant :)

Stéphanie said...

Ca n'a pas vraiment de rapport, à part que cet animal vole aussi, mais est ce que vous savez s'il y des chauves souris dans Paris?