Been a while since I updated everyone. Summer seems to be flying by and visitors have seen us travelling all over. While all of that’s been going on, life on the pond has continued.
A week after the last photo, Spike is still strutting his stuff.
June 22, 2015 – Five Weeks Old give or take
And then he needs to scratch.
Post strut head scratch.
Then his colours started to come in.
All fluffy legs and neck – a gangly pre-teen.
Slowly, starting at almost six weeks, he takes on the colours he will wear for the rest of his life.
Five days later and his colours begin to show more prominently.Glowing in the early morning sun, he suddenly looks powerful.
By June 27, at six weeks, Spike is an intriguing mix of down and feather.
He contemplates seeds in water. It’s comforting to know his down still spikes after he’s dunked his head.Little Spike, at six weeks, he’s not quite grown up yet and the wee Goosling is still in his eyes.
In other fowl news, there are several new families on the pond.
I don’t know where the others were, but I hope she’s not a lone duckling.June 27, we met the newest Cootlets. I doubt that’s what they’re really called.It always surprises me that they have red heads.
We went away for a holiday for a few days. By the time we returned, a few things had changed.
July 5, a pre-teen no more. His down is gone.The next morning, I saw the newest duck family. Five of them!A rare glimpse of the Tufted Family.The young prince is growing up.July 10 – his black is still more of a charcoal grey than glossy black.Now that he’s almost fully grown, they make a formidable trio.Almost two weeks old now, the red on the baby Coot’s head becomes more sparse.
By last week, we had begun watching for signs of flight, or flight training. Still nothing. But I’m not home during the day anymore, and his office faces in the wrong direction to see all the time, so we might be missing it. Still, Spike keeps growing.
He’s almost as big as Trixie!July 18 – a few days over two months old
Yesterday ….
July 25 – they resemble a multi-headed sculpture, or Busby Berkley Dancers.
And just this morning, a few calisthenics. I gather flight training has begun.
Trixie performs an arabesque, perfect and graceful.Spike decides to do some range of motion exercise.Norton and Spike, book ends together.
Spike’s legs are still not quite strong enough to bear his weight without tiring. However, I see him sitting and eating less frequently these days, so there’s been progress. Still, he’s an eating machine and when there’s food about, his face is rarely far from it.
I love the movement in this picture.
Off for more summer adventures now. A bit closer to home now that I’m back to work. Let’s see where the days take us.
I'm a Canadian who loves our planet and the people living on it. I also love to travel and take pictures. I'd like to think I've improved a little, but am pretty sure there's room to be better.
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A Canuck's Eye View 