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Feed the birds

An afternoon of duck and swan feeding along the Rideau river.

Feed the birds
Tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag
“Feed the birds,” that’s what she cries
While overhead, her birds fill the skies

I really liked Mary Poppins, definitely one of my childhood favorites. Anyway, to cut a long story short, my friends and I took advantage of a beautiful summer Saturday a few weeks ago to go bond with nature. The area of choice? The quiet part of the Rideau river nicely tucked away behind Billings Bridge mall.

We spent the afternoon feeding ducks, birds and even some swans, black swans at that! I didn’t even know that there were black swans actually. These birds certainly know how the system works – they’ve got the best “floating” areas worked out and are ready to gobble up as many bread pieces as they can in one funny free-for-all frenzy. Some are bullies, others know what they want and will leave the crowd, coming closer to you for first dibs, and others stick with their buddies, waiting for the bread to drop, like sprinters waiting for the gun. Oh yes, we even saw a groundhog come out of its hole!! But it didn’t seem too fond of bread; it just kinda sat there confused, wondering why we were throwing food at it.