Thread: The minds power of attraction

I love watching and admiring Spoonbill ducks and have never shot one.
In the last three years I have been delighted to have a pair of spoonies hanging around my pond. This Christmas past a spoony duck had a nest and clutch of eggs under a small weeping willow on the edge of the pond. I cut gorse and piled it on the sides and behind the nest so that no cat or ferret could grab her while sitting and she could just drop into the water with her wee ones when they hatched. I started thinking about how cool pet spoonies would be, but had these hopes dashed when I read that because they are insect feeders attempts to domesticate them have failed.
I have thought about how to get around this without answer and then yesterday something amazing happened, I heard squeaking and funny noises in the vege garden and as near as I could guess it sounded like Puks when they are talking to each other. I raced to chase them out of the lettuces, Cavelo Nero, corn, or what ever else they were destroying. What a surprise, a Spoony duck with seven 'lings under a bird net covering the new silverbeet plants. She flapped and squeaked and lifted the net leaving the wee ones. I let them out and they headed through the veges towards her calls in the paddock. What they were doing there I have no idea, it's 250 metres to the pond. Not the same bird I had seen nesting at Christmas but a real thrill to have them come to the house !

A pair of Muscovy ducks have recently taken up residence at ours.

The female lives at my in-laws next door and has laid an egg. The drake, whom I've christened Harold, lives out back and follows the shadows under the lines. He shows up close to the fence in the morning and I feed him some corn. There is a stream close by and two ponds on the other side of the house but neither seem particularly interested in water.

awesome to have them in close like that...I see spoonies every week,one farm I sow has quite a few of them...if you want to shoot one this season....I can point you in right direction....got one spot that nearly always has a few around.....my Swedish mate sat in mai mai while we went for a paddle,he managed to shoot a real mixed bag before we came back to him,including a beautiful spoonie drake....ORoukes did fine job of mounting it for him and sent it back to home country for him too.

Originally Posted by Ryan

A pair of Muscovy ducks have recently taken up residence at ours.

The female lives at my in-laws next door and has laid an egg. The drake, whom I've christened Harold, lives out back and follows the shadows under the lines. He shows up close to the fence in the morning and I feed him some corn. There is a stream close by and two ponds on the other side of the house but neither seem particularly interested in water.

They live forever and taste like gumboots too.

Originally Posted by Barefoot

They live forever and taste like gumboots too.

Well, there goes the option of eating him if all goes awry.