This morning I returned to the marsh to take a few shots of the Mandarin Duck that has taken up residency with the Mallards. The extreme cold has now lifted and it was considerably warmer, today. There were two other photographers there, who had heard the Mandarin was swimming with other ducks, in the creek. I've known these people for a long time. They are masters at their craft and very conscientious people when it comes to wildlife and I was happy to see them. We had all been taking pictures of this most colorful of ducks when another person entered the space we occupied at the edge of the creek. And that's when all hell broke loose.
It was a woman I'm quite familiar with. She is a confrontational self proclaimed nature activist and she was carrying a large net. When my friend asked what she intended to do with the net she replied, "I'm here to rescue the Mandarin. He has no business being in there with the wild ones and it will only get hurt."
"If you catch it, where do you intend to take it?" he asked her.
"To the Wildlife Center. We'll keep him there until he can be released at a proper time."
Another photographer asked if the center had authorised her to do this to which she responded, "That's none of your business."
I then called her by name and inquired if she wasn't the one who had taken the young owl away from it's parents and had placed it in the center where it never received parental care. The incident I was referring to was when this woman saw an owlet that had fallen from it's nest and she decided it would be better off away from it's natural habitat. Owlets do this all the time and they climb up a tree trunk where they are cared for by very attentive parents but are at a total loss when removed from them. Owlets are also slow learners and need parental care for a long time. Both male and female owls are sensational parents when left alone.
I asked her, "And how did that work for you?"
"What makes you think this duck needs rescuing?"
She said, "Because it's an escapee and it's not wild."
"You could be right lady but he's healthy, is in great company and is being fed like never before. There's perhaps another reason why he's here. That could be a feral duck and an offspring from a parasitic duck. I told you before when you wanted to remove the Hooded Merganser that he had been hatched and raise by Mallards." (That's when her eyes glassed over.) We knew this because we had watched it begin life as a hatchling.
Her intelligent response was. "I have nothing to say to you, either."
When she made an attempt to catch it the Mandarin simply launched and escaped with a half dozen Green heads.
For her safety, since I didn't like the looks on the faces of the people with me, I encouraged them to leave knowing her chances of actually snagging it would be almost nil.

For a little information. There are some species of ducks that are indeed parasitic. They lay an egg in the nest of another species. Quite smart when you think about it. That way they almost guarantee that one of their offspring will survive, should their own nest be ravaged or a predator takes the parents. The Wood Duck being at the top of the list. Redheads and Ruddy Ducks do it and Mergansers have been known to do it as well. This one could be the results of just such behaviour but could also be an escapee as she said. The point is it's a duck in good health doing what ducks do best. Swim, fly, eat where they can find food (and this one is getting a lot of good stuff) and enjoying his freedom as one of natures incredibly beautiful creatures.
This isn't over yet. I'll wait until after the weekend and then take this to the next stage.