My little sister and I love to go and feed the ducks in our local pond. We especially love to see the ducklings, their fuzzy little bodies taking one tentative step at a time. Their adorable, big, black eyes glinting in the sunlight, with their protective mother duck watchfully standing close by. As they were waddling around, I noticed something different about the drake mallards. Their usual brilliant jade green necks were dull and spotted with brown speckles. They looked more similar to a female duck. At first, I thought they were muddy or ill. Eager to discover the reasons behind this, I learned that they were in fact moulting their feathers! This transformation is called the “eclipse plumage”; it often occurs in summer, when the males can lose their flight feathers all at once so they can replace them. Although this also means they’re unable to fly and predators are more perilous. Luckily, being painted with the brown spots means the drakes are more camouflaged in their dark and wild surroundings. After about a month, they will return to their vibrant state, once again. I wonder how big the ducklings will be and how many males will be soaring in the endless blue when we next go down to the duck pond? Elizabeth, 11 Read today’s other YCD piece, by Mason, nine: “Fox cubs playing without a care in the world” If you’d like to submit an article for Young Country Diary, the submission form is open now, until Monday 1 July. YCD is published every fourth Saturday of the month