A Duck Couple Hangs Out at My House

There is a duck couple that is hanging out at and near my house this spring. I wish I knew why. It's pretty cool.

The mallards were just walking toward the side of my house from my front yard when I got home on Friday, looking around, doing duck things. When I pulled in the driveway, about 50 feet away, they stopped cold. I snapped a quick pic and got out of the car. That's when they spooked and took off flying and quacking down the street as if that were the civilized path to take. When they hit the intersection, they took a left. It was kind of incredible.

Two years ago we spotted a mallard couple sitting on the roof of my house. Before they were perching there we saw them flying up and down our street, as if they were checking out the housing market in our area, looking for an open house. It was the same type of thing, they used the street to get around like flying cars in Back to the Future II.

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I don't know if these ducks are the same ducks that we saw two years ago but they could be. The average lifespan for a mallard is three years, but they can live up to twenty years.

The only thing I can think of that had their interest peaked is the chicken coup in our neighbor's backyard. Whether they had previously found food in these coups, or just like hanging out to tease flightless birds, I have no idea. But I can't wait to bump into them again.