Walking outside, a pleasant season — just warm enough to sweat a little. May when breezes carry scent. At lunch I strolled five minutes from Palaceside Building to peek at Mitsui & Co.'s artificial pond in Ōtemachi from the news. A mallard mother and ducklings.
This pond — not sure official or nickname — is called "Mallard Pond." On the morning of the 7th a Mitsui employee arriving for work counted ten chicks. Adorable ducklings swimming hard behind mom. Could not get all in one shot — eight in the photo = photo upper (some diving or hard to see — look closely).
Mallards have nested here since 1983 — thirty
years. Building rebuilds nearby kept them away four years — back after five. When annual it was barely news; after the long gap, most papers and TV covered it, and at noon crowds from nearby offices = photo upper left. Used to people, the ducks stayed calm.
Watching, a chick dunked its face, tail up foraging weeds or algae — cute and charming = photo upper right.
A Mitsui acquaintance once said the company has a mallard officer monitoring daily, feeding, handling press. Maybe security — someone with a long pole guarded the shore. Cats and rats once wiped out a brood; crows watch hungrily — chasing them off is the job.
The officer's final task: see them move. Usually here over a month; mid–late June when chicks grow, they cross Uchibori-dōri to the Imperial Palace moat. About 40 m wide. Often around 4 a.m., but it is a road — when "soon" nears, they coordinate with Metropolitan Police; Wadakura-mon police stop traffic that day. Quite a job. That is how we get news of ducklings waddling after mom.
Move timing varies — mid-July 2000; 1989–90 they stayed and fledged from this pond late July–August. How about this year? Anyway — grow up strong!