A Duck on One Leg? My Collage for LMAC #178

agmoore(76)
Published in
Let's Make a Collage
Words
720
Reading
4 min
Listen
Play
3y

A Peaceful Lake Scene
178 pixabay 17.png

The Template Photo, by shaka@shaka
SKDMZ90 - Imgur.jpg

My Second Collage, Silly, for Fun
178 new version gif2.gif

The One-Legged Duck

If you look at the duck in shaka@shaka's template photo for Round #177 of the LMAC Contest, you will note that the animal is standing on one leg. This phenomenon is quite common in the duck world. Has the duck been injured? If so, apparently that is not necessarily a fatal injury. According to a New Zealand website I came across, ducks manage quite fine with one leg. However, the duck in shaka@shaka's picture is probably just standing on one leg. That is normal behavior.

Mallard in Ireland Standing on One Leg
Duck_on_one_leg,_Monaghan_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3934644.jpg
Attribution:Duck on one leg, Monaghan by Kenneth Allen. Used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 generic license.

Ducks stand on one leg in order to preserve body heat. An article in the Omaha World-Herald explains that several avian species stand on one leg: "...to thermoregulate (control their body temperature) during cold weather... the same way a person might wrap their arms around themselves when cold."

An alternate strategy for ducks and geese to preserve body heat is to sit. This brings to mind the idiom 'sitting duck'. That is a hunting (😏) term and refers to how easy it is to shoot a duck that is sitting rather that flying.

Several Ducks Sitting
three ducks resting.png
Credit: agmoore@agmoore

You will note two ducks in my picture (above) are tucking their beaks under a wing. This is not only a heat-conserving technique, but also allows the duck to rest its neck. The bird in the foreground (in my picture, again) is preening, apparently, not resting its beak. Preening helps to keep the duck free from dirt and parasites.

The bird in shaka@shaka's picture may be injured, may be conserving body heat, or may simply like to stand that way. Referring to the Omaha World-Herald article again, the ducks are believed to have "...a much better sense of balance than we do, and are able to position their center of balance over their supporting leg...",

So if you were wondering why the duck in the template photo is standing on one leg (I can't be the only person who noticed), your curiosity I hope has been satisfied.

My Collage


As is often the case, this week I used collage making for relaxation. You will see additions in the top collage that seem unnecessary, but these were fun to find and place. I took my time in making this and really got into the scene. It's a very nice, accessible, inexpensive form of escapism. No drugs necessary :))

The second collage was an afterthought. It was silly excursion into the ridiculous. Again, making this was great fun and I hope it is fun to look at.

Below I list all the contributors from LIL and public domain sources who loaned me their creativity in order for me to express mine. Thanks to everyone on this list.

Public domain:

These are the pictures from LIL that I contributed at some point in the past:

Process:
There were many false starts with the first (my main) collage, but once I found the picture with a lake and picnic bench, I was off. Here are some steps along the way:

178 process gif 1.gif

Here are some stages for the second collage (the GIF):

178 new version process gif.gif

LMAC and LIL

Every week is an adventure in the LMAC Collage contest. This week I learned more about ducks!

Please check out the LMAC curation feed to see the amazing works of art that the community artists have created.

Everyone who competes is a winner (I don't compete), but the Hive community selects the official winners. This week's contest will continue until Monday night. Join in the fun, please. On Thursday, the contest begins anew.

You can see that LIL, the LMAC Image Library, was an essential part of my collage creating process this week. Everyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from the library. Learn about the procedure here.

I wish all my readers peace and health.

Thank you for reading my blog


Hive on

letsmakeacollage
art
science
nature
birds
ducks
community
hive
creativecoin
proofofbrain
via peakd
This post was published via peakd. Ecency is not the originator or editor of this content and displays it for discovery purposes only.
205
A Duck on One Leg? My Collage for LMAC #178 | Ecency