Mallard

Recognition
The male (drake) has a green head and a brown breast. The bill is yellow. The female is brown, with a dark grey bill and a blue wing bar.

Where seen
Seen in pairs around the marina on occasion and around Lofton Island. These birds are only here for short periods in the late autumn.

Jimmy’s notes
It is believed that mallards are the ancestors of the domestic duck.  The English expression “playing ducks and drakes” (the game of skipping stones across the water – perhaps akin to the playfulness of the mallard) has come to mean “behaving recklessly” or “squandering money”.