Duck life

Down here on the bayou we have ducks, i. e. mallards and those white ducks. There are probably five mallard males to one female. I don't know the sex of the whites because males and females look identical (to me). During mating season--which I thought was over!--the mallard hen is courted and mated by as many males as other males allow. Typically, I've seen groups of three dominate and mate, then protect her until the ducklings hatch.

Today I witnessed five males, that's four mallard males and one white male, ahem, have a go at her. Since the white is not one of them, the mallard males (mm from here on) really tried to prevent this miscegenation. They failed. He held her under the water so long that I thought she would drown. But no, it all worked out. She swam for the edge, climbed up on a log and started preening and shaking her tail feathers. Oh, yes, she did. Each of the males gathered near her and also preened and kind of stood in the water, flapping their wings as if bragging. (All of this is human interpretation.)

I didn't get my camera until mating was over, so I missed that part. Here is a series of photos which tell the story....after!