This duck tale has a happy ending, as two Hooded Merganser duck couples paddle gently down the stream, but a potential crisis had been averted only moments before.
It began like this. Five Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), three males and two females, were swimming upstream. Two of the males were in the lead, while the other male seemed to be carrying on a conversation with one of the females. Their course had them in the partial shade, not far from one of the banks.
At the same time, four Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus), two males and two females, were headed downstream in perfect formation on a collision course with the Mallard ducks.
What would happen when the groups met? Would there be a confrontation? Would they exchange information about the attractions of the places they had just passed through? Who has the right-of-way in situations like this?
The signals were a bit ambiguous at the first encounter, as one of the male Mallards tried to have a conversation with one of the male Hooded Mergansers, who had turned away. All eyes were turned on the two representatives. Would they be able to negotiate an agreement? If a fight broke out, it was clear that the Mallards had an advantage in both size and numbers.
Who know what was said, but it appears that an agreement was reached and a possible confrontation was avoided. The ducks peacefully passed each other and continued on their separate ways.
The first photo showed the Hooded Merganser ducks after the encounter with the Mallards, so sequentially it should go here. Did you notice that the duck formation had changed and that the males were now in the lead? Was this a protective, chivalrous gesture on their part?
Of course, I may have completely misread this situation. Perhaps the male duck ego is less fragile than the human one and the two male ducks were simply asking each other for directions when they met in the middle of the stream.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It started to look like Admiral Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, but with a better outcome…great shots..:-))
at our local lake, the mallards interact with the American Coots who stay over winter, but the visitors keep their distance from people mostly, although once I saw a female common merganser in with the mallards.. I think that ducks are more accepting of situations than people are.
It’s probably true. Some species of animals (and I suspect birds too) can be very territorial, so I never know what to expect.
Good thing your story averted the crisis!
You realize that you should take partial credit (or blame) for me telling stories the way I do. Your writing serves to encourage my natural instincts.
Interesting and nice of you to say. Natural instincts are good. I have known for a long time that stories are powerful ways to communicate but the book “Tell to Win” by Peter Guber really added to my perspective.
Very nice story and pictures! You always manage to ask questions I’ve never thought about, and I end up really wondering What happened there? What did they say? Why did they do that? 😀
It’s really fun for me to imagine the conversations among animals or insects and especially when I happen to catch two different kinds interacting. Sometimes I enjoy the writing part of my blog as much as the photos. Both serve as creative outlets.
Entertaining and beautiful shots.
Thanks. It was fun writing the story and I was pretty happy with the photos (primarily because I found the ducks to be so cool).
The show Nature on PBS just did an interesting show about ducks that you should watch if you get a chance. It explains a lot of the “why do they do thats?”