Mallards in Bellingham (not the ice cream)

Juvenile attempting to catch up with its brood-mates

A few weeks ago I was walking around Lake Padden watching a number of newly hatched mallard ducklings obediently playing follow the leader.  I had been meaning to photograph them all spring, and I finally got the chance to head back on a warm, cloudy day.  No hatchlings this time though, at least not on the side of the lake I observed from.  The young I saw still followed close to the hen, generally keeping within a few meters unless distracted (and when they saw where they were they'd swim straight back to the group).  That said, there were a few groups of juveniles that were beginning to assert their independence by going elsewhere as a group to feed.  Actually, the only thing I really saw the younger ducks doing was eating. Before this I assumed that mallards ate mostly plants and seeds, and I certainly saw some of the young ducks slurping up algae and other greenery, but I was shocked to find one trying to swallow a small fish!  It turns out they are very opportunistic feeders, eating insects and amphibians along with seeds and whatever else they can get a hold of.

Mallards don't dive for food, but instead engage in a behavior called dabbling.  In shallow waters they can simply dip their beaks into the water, grazing at whatever catches their fancy, but away from shore they become vertical buoys, with a head under water searching for food and tails reaching for the sky.  I have seen some kick at the water to remain vertical, and individuals appear to be better at searching this way than others.

Mallards do not dive but engage in a behavior called dabbling, where they will bob their head into the water, kicking to remain vertical while searching for food.

A few of the trinkets I found washed up on the shore. 
I stole the large bead from a young mallard attempting to eat it.

Unfortunately, a part of being an opportunistic feeder is that object that were not meant to be eaten can appear to be edible.  A group of three juvenile mallards were foraging near my spot on the shore when one of them began having trouble swallowing something.  The duck would seem to open its beak as if to get a better grip on what was in its mouth, and did this several times before dropping a small oval bead onto the ground.  To my dismay, the duck went right back at it, trying to make a meal of the small bit of plastic.  I made a move towards the juvenile and it quickly ceded the morsel, and I quickly pocketed it to prevent any other ducks from having the same idea. 

Adult male (drake) in flight.

As the group I was observing began to move away and back into the grass I spied an adult male flying to the south.  Several of the young tried unsuccessfully to keep up, but they couldn't get so much as a foot out of the water.  The first flight a mallard takes is usually close to two months after they've hatched, and these birds still had at least a few more weeks to go before joining their adult brethren in the sky.  When they do, they'll still have to fly hard to keep up - adult mallards can reach speeds of over 50 mph while flying when migrating.  Though this group might stay at the lake year round, if a female from the north spends the winter here and mates with a local male, the male will follow the female to her home nesting spot for the duration of the breeding season.