I thought it was Maggie and got all happy for Junior, took a lot of pictures for reference then made a sketch to finish at home. There, I got my photos up on the computer screen where I could see the details so that if I had any questions while I was drawing,...but wait...
I realized then that it was not Maggie, but another bird: half mallard and half mottled duck. Because crossbreeds are called "ainoko" in Japanese, I named this one Aiko.
There was a reason I mistook Aiko for Maggie. She had taken on Maggie's job of livening up the others and getting them to move. When I came to the pond today and saw a female mallard cheerleader, I of course thought it was Maggie.
I felt 3 things when I realized my mistake: I felt a little sad that Junior did not have his partner back; but there was an inner sigh--it's not so bad: Aiko and some other greenheads (a few others came with her) would be with Junior, so after the mottled ducks went home at night, Junior wouldn't be by himself.
But most of all, I wanted to give a medal to Aiko for stepping up do her job so well I'd been thoroughly fooled.
