In the concrete wasteland that is the lower Leith River flood protection scheme, a group of paradise shelducks have found an ideal spot for a siesta. Out of reach of people they can sleep through the noon-day heat in peace.
They are endemic New Zealand ducks. The female has the white head, whilst the males do not. Their specific name Tadorna variegata is not particularly imaginative although appropriate.
This is probably a group of non-breeding birds, both juveniles (hatched earlier this year)and yearlings (hatched last year). They mate for life and are territorial, which many a visitor to the Woodhaugh Gardens - on the middle part of the Leith, where there are ponds - has discovered!
