Discovering a raft of Mallards, rather unexpectedly at -15℃!

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Tshirt on, thermal leggings, a sweater for good measure, northface jacket, woolen socks, heavy black jeans, and a leather boot with woolen inner lining.
Stick my head in a lined cap, and bam, I am now ready to face the harsh winters of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

As soon as I step outside, my tingling fingertips remind me of a fatal mistake. NO GLOVES?!
Well, it couldn't be that bad.

I head out to a popular winter spot. Apparently, the folks have gathered there to snow slide and have a snowball fight.

At this moment, I have no clue what to expect. It is the first time something like this is happening there. The last thing I expected was to find a flock of mallards paddling away in the manmade lakes!


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The winter here is very unforgiving. My fingertips are now burning. First sign of the frostbite settling in. I was however distracted very effectively by this incredible sight.
What are these ducks doing here?!


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I am no duck expert, but these sure look like mallards. The iconic green heads, with a beautiful crimson necks, and the white and grey body.

For a long time, I called them wild ducks. Until a few years back, when I came across the "actual advice mallard" meme. Hey, memes are educational, right?


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What really blew me away was that I thought of mallards as migratory ducks. They fly to temperate areas when it gets cold.
My thinking about this grew based on their appearance. An earthy looking animal wouldn't really hang around cold, white snowy areas.

It doesn't help them in the cycle of evolution. Neither do I know ducks as hibernators. Nothing adds up.

For a solid jiffy, I was bewildered. And you should be, too.


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At this point, my google weather app tells me it is "feels like -15℃".
In Ukraine, I have learned to depend on the feels like, rather than the actual temperature. It is what gets you.

"Honey, it is just -2, lets go for brunch!"
As soon as you step outside, the cold wind slaps across your face.
"Babe, it sure feels like -10 out here. We should doordash brunch, instead."

I cannot assert how many times have I paid the price for not paying attention to the "feels like". It really screens the difference.


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Back to the mallards. There they were, paddling away so adorably. While I froze and shivered, they swam with no worries. How cool is it to be a mallard!

There is snow everywhere. The edges close to the water are solid ice. The wind is pretty chilly. Yet, they paid no care. What a view!

Unexpected, surprised, pleased, frightened, emotions were all over the place. I need answers! What are they doing here?





Clearly, I wasn't the only one awestruck at this incredible view. People around me gathered and stared at this startling event, just like myself.

It is surreal to see something like this. For one, you never get to see such a huge raft of ducks in the metropolitan city. They are a rare view.
Secondly, you would never expect them here in such temperatures.





The lake is artificially kept from freezing. Upon a little exploration, I found a motorhouse routing itself to the lake bridge from which hot water is consistently pumped out.

I touched the water and it was warm to feel. Somewhere around 15 to 20℃. Naturally, there is no other way for the water to stay liquid during such low temperatures.

The ducks look really comfortable in it, too.


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The ducks gathered around some specific points every few minutes, almost like a rhythm. It turns out, those points are where people usually stand and throw some snacks in the water.

There is a small confectionery store around the corner selling hot baked snacks. When people buy those and walk by, it is extremely difficult to hold themselves from throwing some goodies for the mallards.


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The lakes were once natural. It was one long lake stretching from one end of the area to the other. I believe it was remodeled recently. The last year was massive for the city with numerous renovations taking place in the public areas.

It has made the city so much more beautiful and a step closer to metropolitan. Now the lakes are squiggly shaped, bifurcated, and a few elongated to match the original path of the lake.

All of them pumped with heated water and with a plethora of ducks chilling in there.


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There are some steel wire chairs installed around the lakes, which I believe strengthens the point that these ducks may be local. This is a spot where people come duck watching and duck feeding. It still doesn't make sense why they decided to stay here rather than migrating.


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It was an incredible discovery. One that showed how far we have evolved as a species, and a provider for other species. We have climbed the ladder of science to now integrate natural climate with influenced climate to somehow alter a well-branded migration system of ducks.

Also, another unexpected visitor came by to look at the ducks while I was there.


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All photos, texts, thoughts are my own. Events took place in Khariv, Ukraine.


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