Ducks and Geese

Mallard Ducks

Also known as dabbling ducks which breeds throughout the temperate and sub- tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zeland, and Australia. Believed be the ancestors of all domestic ducks, are ducks that are raised for meat, eggs and down. The mallard duck is 56 to 65 centemeters long, has a wingspan of 81 to 98 centemeters, and weighs seven to eight pounds. The male is diferent from the female, because it has a green head, black rear end and a yellow bill tipped with black. The female has a difference with a light brown body, like most female dabbling ducks. However, both the female and male Mallards have distinct purple speculum edged with white. The Mallard inhabits most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. There have been reports of it eating frogs. It usually nests on a river bank, but not always near water. It is highly outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks, which are known as a sord. Mallards form pairs only until the female lays eggs, at which time she is left by the male. The clutch is 8 to 13 eggs, which are incubated for 27 to 28 days to hatching with 50 to 60 days to fledging.

Geese

Goose or geese is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller. True geese are medium to large birds, always associated to a greater or lesser extent with water.Most species in Europe, Asia, and North America are strongly migratory as wild birds, breeding in the far north and wintering much farther south. All geese eat a largely vegetarian diet, and can become pests when flocks feed on arable crops or inhabit ponds or grassy areas in urban environments. Not all couples are heterosexual, as both females and males will form long-term same-sex couples with greater or lesser frequency depending on species. Geese usually mate for life, though a small number will "divorce" and remate. They tend to lay a smaller number of eggs than ducks but both parents protect the nest and young, which usually results in a higher survival rate for the young geese.

Observation #4

River Hollow, Wilson
Date: 5/12/08
Time: 9:00pm
Temperature: 45°
Weather Conditions: Windy
Wind Conditions: High Breeze
Soil Conditions: Cold

Hypothesis:

Notes: Today(last night), I had seen a moose right when I turned into my driveway and then there was also an owl that was sitting on one of the signs. Which was kind of cool because I havn't seen a moose in my area for quite a while and I have never really seen owls up close. Everything happened to look different because it was darker outside, because the sun was going down. Everything had happened to look the same but with some minor changes. There were still branches on the ground from the rain storm and more animals had happened to be out and about. The one thing that was different was that there had been much more green plants than the last time I had seen it. I think of seems like everthing is growing back pretty fast.

Observation #3

River Hollow, Wilson
Date: 5/10/08
Time 7:00am
Temperature: 47°
Weather Conditions: Chilly, but not too bad
Wind Conditions: Slite breeze
Soil Conditions: Wet and cold

Hypothesis:

Notes: It had rained extremely hard last night, so every thing was very wet and the were many tree branches on the road that had fallen of the trees. The geese were still living around the pond, but this morning I had happened to see them not in the water, which every morning I have seen them in the water, which was different. The trees were darker, because they were wet. Many green plants have been growing in and bigger than they had been before.

Observations #2

River Hollow, Wilson
Date: 5/10/08
Time: 6:17am & 6:30pm
Temperature: 32°
Weather Conditions: chilly and cold, but not too bad, and there was snow
Wind Conditions: slite breeze
Soil Conditions: Wet and cold

Hypothesis:

Notes: My observatrions today are much different from my last time, because today it happend to snow. Mostly everthing had snow covering it. It kind of looked like everything was frozen over. Not very many animals were around, but the geese were still in the pond and there were some bird flying around but not many. Some of the plants had been bent down because of the pressure of the snow. But later that afternoon when I returned, every thing had melted and the temperature had raised to 57°. The geese were still there and the ducks had returned. Not one patch of snow was seen in sight. The soil was wetter then it had been before and some of the plants had rissen up from its down position, from the pressure of the snow.

Observation #1

Location: River Hollow, Wilson
Date: 5/7/08
Time: 6:15
Temperature: 52°
Weather: Cloudy but still Warm
Wind Conditions: Lite
Soil Conditions: Damp in some areas but hard in other areas

Hypothesis:

Notes: None of the trees happen to have any fuits or flowers on them. But the trees that are around my area are pines, cottons, and some aspens. There are already plants that are starting to turn green but some are still taking longer to turn green, still brown. The last time I had seen a moose in the River Hollow area was probably about 5- 7 d ays ago. But the most animals that I have seen are mostly ducks, hocks, and geese. There are these two geese that I have been seeing lately, that might have a nest near that area or around this pond that they have been hanging around. Yesterday I went to take my pictures and walked up to this pond and saw that there were three ducks together. I didn't know that if it was a mom, dad, and baby or if it was two females and a male or two males and one female. There were many trees, plants, and much more. There were sounds of water, because the snake river is right next to our house, the wind blowing, the cars on the highway, and the duck, geese, and birds.