Mallards and Geese

Paul and I went for a walk through the neighborhood this afternoon, and we ended up at a little pond next to some industrial buildings. Also at this pond were those most common of water birds: Mallards and Canada Geese. But just because they're common, that doesn't mean they can't be cool, too!

Someone must feed the ducks and geese at this pond, because as soon as we showed up, a couple dozen Mallards came cruising across the pond and over the iced-up banks, heading straight for us:
 

Ah, humans! Humans have food.
 

A pair of Canada Geese then came barreling in, and they made it very clear that they're the ones in charge around here:
 

Geese are big, and very loud -- I'd definitely be intimidated if I were a duck! And these guys were honking quite insistently:
 

The ducks didn't object, and the geese seemed pretty pleased with themselves:
 

And after all that, we weren't even giving away any food. The birds figured that out pretty quickly, though, and then we became just boring humans again:
 

I have to admire Mallards and Canada Geese for doing so well in human-populated areas, and the fact that they can convince people to give them food probably helps. In any case, it's nice to get a chance to admire these very common birds close to home. I mean really, common or not, you've got to love the total flashiness that is the male Mallard: