Wednesday 17 June 2015

Day 168: happy ducks

I'm back at Canary Wharf and killing some time in Jubilee Gardens checking up on my email. There are a couple of raised water features adding to the peaceful atmosphere. My only niggle is that someone on a bench out of my sight is puffing on a cigar. Yes it's an open space but cigar smoke is so pervasive and is marring the tranquillity. I think it might be time to move.

As I walk past one of the brick fountains I espy a pair of ducks enjoying a water bath. It seems a perfect photographic moment so I whip out my Leica. I'm able to get pretty close as they're happily preoccupied. The female of the pair kept trying to tuck her head under her wing and left me with an alarming picture of a headless duck. I have some great shots with the drake waving its webbed foot in my direction but its decapitated mate in the background rather ruined it for me. So I hung around until they both revealed their glossy eyes again. Some others behind me brandishing their iPhones also trying to get a nice angle on the couple and we're pondering why they are both standing on one leg. My understanding is that ducks (and other feathered friends) stand on one leg in the water to regulate their temperature. As there seemed to be a queue forming behind me, I thought I better leave the ducks, and the other photographers, to it.

 

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