Ducks

We have ducks in our garden.

They are Mallards and they are wild.

Herself keeps feeding them, which means they keep coming back in ever larger numbers. Which means more noise and more poo.

They can spot you through the window, even upstairs, and they get very excited and expect to be fed. This involves queueing up outside the door and quacking - sometimes loudly, sometimes not. If you do venture outside, they will follow you everywhere in the hope you might drop some seed.

I have to say, though, although they can be annoying, there are also hilarious. I particularly like the way they sit underneath the bird feeders we have in our trees and beg the sparrows to drop some seed - which they do, being very messy eaters - the ducks then mop this up with great efficiency. Also, once they've eaten, they all setting down for a snooze for an hour or so, and then walk off somewhere else.

I am constantly amazed that they can actually fly. They seem to be the wrong shape. Admittedly, flying does seem to take a tremendous amount of effort - and they certainly don't have the hang of landings - you can almost see the look of panic on their faces as they get near the ground. They also almost always topple over forwards. Probably why they prefer to walk everywhere.