Thursday, June 19, 2014

A very strange duck!



Walking around Lake Joondalup in-between showers yesterday for the first time I spotted a Musk duck, described in the opening line of my field guide to the birds of Australia as 'a very strange duck'.. I can now confirm this to be true :) The adult male has a most peculiar leathery flap under his bluntly triangular bill and a tail made up of not 27 nor 29 but 28 feathers that expand and fluff up when he puts on a display which he did for moi :)

 
Slowly rotating (above) he raised his bill (below), flap expanded and began making loud 'k-plonk' noises as he splashed away...  


...as he swam off into the centre of the lake, tail puffed out, making shrill whistle like noises that I could hear all the way back to the car, I thought to myself.. strange, that doesn't even begin to cover the Musk duck, at the same time thrilled that I had just witnessed something quite unique! Happy Thursday, take care...p.s. catch up today!


36 comments:

  1. I've certainly never seen a duck like this one before!! Living fairly close to the water in Portland and Seattle, I've seen lots of different birds/ducks, but this is a new one and different he is!! Great shots, Grace!! Hope your week is going well!

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  2. An unusual duck...but still cute!

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  3. Very strange indeed , I think about some prehistoric animal ..

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  4. Helpful images, Grace, to go along with the explanation. You certainly have some unusual creatures in your part of the world.

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  5. Grace that sure is a very strange duck, and impressive, too! At Lake Joondalup we got married btw :-) WIth ducks like that living there we sure have a reason to return!

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  6. I have never heard or seen about a musk duck! It is a very special one with the feaders and the strange thing under his chin. Great you spotted him.

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  7. A strange duck indeed, Grace! And great pics.

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  8. Fascinating. I'll bet it's some evolutionary offshoot. In south Florida we had Muscovy Ducks which were really ugly and made a mess.

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  9. There is a huge variety of ducks.

    Tomás

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  10. A strange wonder that sends shivers through me like seeing a ray, or eel or. . . alien!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= <3

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  11. They can't fly upside down because they would quack up.

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  12. Someone mentioned Muscovy ducks. Our neighborhood in Houston wanted to relocate the Muscovy Ducks because they were ugly. After that I made sure my hair was combed when I went to the mailbox.

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  13. Oh isn't he amazing - weren't you honoured with that wonderful display; I'd label him a show-off! I bet he doesn't go through his act for all the cameras that come upon him! Joyx

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  14. Odd duck. Never heard of it, let alone seen one. Love the last photo.

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  15. I've never seen anything like this. Very cool, though!!

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  16. I haven't seen one like that one at all!

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  17. Wow, I've never seen anything like this! I like what Andrew called it, Odd Duck! That seems to suit him quite well.

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  18. Prehistoric, almost like a platypus with feathers, weird!

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  19. Another animal that I have never seen!

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  20. He seems quite pleased to be in your spotlight Grace.

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  21. Never seen one of those ducks around my area, quite strange looking indeed!

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  22. Hmm... he is a bit strange looking. I really like his tailfeathers though!

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  23. It looks sort of prehistoric. Only in Australia.

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  24. Hmmm, I hope he (or she) is not ill.
    I wonder if he is 'The Ugly Duckling' (Andersen) ...
    PS: Nice shots!

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  25. He looks like a genetic anomaly of a prehistoric bird!!!

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  27. I can't remember what he is called but when you go to joondalup lake before you walk onto the jetty thing there is now a sign that states what he is, ill grab a pic of the sign next time im there.There has only ever been one. I can tell you he is odd simply because of how old he is, he was that size when I first saw him when I was 10 I am now 29 although when you see him now he is more grey than he used to be we called him "the gobble gobble duck" for his neck looks turkey like when his tail is flared it looks like a beavers tail.

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