My very own Duck House (From Western Telegraph)

My very own Duck House

1:21pm Thursday 25th June 2009

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One good idea came out of the MPs expenses scandal: the Duck House. “Should we buy a Duck House?” says Daphne. I didn’t know there were duck houses; never mind the kind of palatial structure the MP had bought.

Nor did I know whether our ducks, mallards who arrive every year complete with ducklings, need a duck house. And I was not wishing to spending £1,800 of my own cash – these were not tax expense funded ducks – on something the ducks did not need.

However, there is a case for providing something for our ducks. They spend time on a little grassy island very near the edge of the pond and we have wondered about a fox helping himself to a snack of tender duckling.

The MP who bought his duck house is the only one who said, “I was wrong; I am sorry; I should not have done it; I regret what I did.” He then sold the duck house and gave the money to charity. None of this, “I did nothing wrong, it was within the rules, I checked with the fees office.”

I admire his candour – not that it did him much good. He seems to have been ripe for booting out – too old, too independent or too honest perhaps – because David Cameron either pushed him out or made no effort to keep him.

On the internet that there are all kinds of duck houses for sale at all kinds of prices. We decided that all we needed was a duck platform which would float in the middle of the pond. The second criterion was that it had to be bought as locally as possible.

The price had now dropped from the tax expenses profligacy of £1,800 to just over £300. And that is what we bought and we are pleased with it.

It floats high on the surface and all we need is the arrival of the ducks. I have heard that there are mallards on the next door farm pond. Steve, our neighbour, has a much bigger wildlife pond and I know the mallards tend to move around.

I have also heard that they produce their ducklings away from the pond where they come every year and march them here like soldiers on a route march.

In the meantime, the swallows and house martins are here and swooping and dipping into the water. The swallows fly through the top half of the barn door at a speed, and with a flight manoeuvrability, that is stunning. We also have a display of huge iridescent dragon flies, blue and red mainly, and so many tadpoles with well grown legs that they fill a jar if you dip it into the water.

Last summer we had a visit to the pond from an otter – the only time. Another time a golden eye duck arrived and swam under water. Something they do although it amazes when you see it.

We have enough to be going on already till the ducks choose to appear. And part of the wonder of wild animals is that you cannot order them. They come when they want; and I would not want it any other way.