ducklings

I'd been wondering when we'd start seeing ducklings out on the canals - and today seems to be the day. We saw a pair of black ducks (I don't know what they're really called, but they're the most common type of duck here, and they're black, hence we call them black ducks) which had built their nest right on the water on the Muidergracht canal, along with four little ducklings all meeping fiercly in an insistant, high-pitched tone, much like baby mice.

Across the street and over the bridge on the same canal, we saw another black duck with a duckling, and a bit further down was another kind of duck (closer in size and shape to a mallard, but not a mallard - again, I don't know what kind. I'd really love to get a "birds of the canals of Amsterdam" book someday, because there are quite a few that I don't recognize.) with three little ducklings; Joel said he'd seen them a few days ago with five ducklings, so I hope that the other two were just off some place with the dad. Ducks sure learn quickly - these were right by the edge of the water so I tore off some bread from my sandwich and tossed it in. The mom was of course faster than the ducklings and so got most of it, but that didn't stop the little ones from trying. Pretty cute.