Happy Feet the Penguin and Limpy the Duck

Yes, I know I owe everyone the second bug that I left out of this morning's post! Couldn't wait to share this interesting story with a link to a webcam in New Zealand. Happy Feet is an emperor penguin that somehow got off course and ended up in New Zealand rather than the Antarctic. If you saw March of the Penguins you know that emperor penguins are the largest in the world. The folks in Wellington are rehabbing the big bird and hope to drop him off in icy waters south of the South Island of New Zealand in late August. Until then you can check him out on his webcam. Definitely worth a look including the sidebar videos as well.

We had a Happy Feet moment at Sheep Pasture last year. Our little pond attracts an occasional mallard visitors along with the pair that normally spends the summer there. Somehow they all learn I'm a soft touch who's always good for a scoopful of food if they come over to visit while I'm feeding our own ducks. Last year a duck with a leg that had nearly been bitten off by a snapping turtle would waddle over from the pond to get a share of the food. Limpy had a terrible black wound which we thought was badly infected, but every time we tried to catch the tough little bird it would fly back to the pond. Frankly, we expected a quick death from blood poisoning, but each day Limpy would come over for food no matter how painful it was to move. After a week Limpy could put a little weight on the foot and two weeks later the little trooper was moving fairly well. A week later with the black wound completely healed Limpy left us with a distinctive little waddle a little reminiscent of John Wayne. Everyone was thrilled that our feeding had helped in the duck's  recovery. We never expected to see Limpy again, but earlier this week, Limpy returned with a healthy bright orange leg and his characteristic little limp.

Mallard drakes, by the way, have an interesting year. For the breeding season they sport the colorful green head, reddish brown chest, and gray sides. This is great for attracting the ladies, and the totally uncamouflaged suit of clothes has another effect.While his wife sits hidden on a nest for twenty-eight days, the drake sails around on the pond with an "eat me, not her" sign on his back. This altruism stops after the kids arrive because the drake then undergoes a second molt into what is called eclipse plummage which is the same cryptic brown as the hen. This twice a year molt is unusual in the bird world because replacing feathers takes a lot of energy. Again, unlike most birds, molting mallards drop their flight feathers all at once and become flightless until they grow back.