ducks quack differently at night

Ducks are one of my most favourite of all the magnificent creatures on this beautiful earth. So graceful in flight and on the water, yet with an amusing waddling action on land thanks to their webbed feet, they are simply adorable animals. And I love the sounds they make, from a full-blown, defiant "quack!", to their soft, under-their-breath murmurings that tell you you're getting too close for their comfort.

We have a couple of those common brown ducks that reside in the neighbourhood. A family in the street used to leave food out for them on their footpath so we'd see them almost daily. That family has since moved on and now I only see the ducks occasionally, paddling in the slimy creek at the local park, or in flight overhead.

However, I do hear the ducks almost every night. When I curl up in bed and the world is quiet, it's never long before I hear them. And I've noticed that they quack differently at night! Without exception, their night-time quacking follows the pattern of five or six sharp "quack!"s that gradually decrease in pitch and volume. I've never heard a duck quack like this during the day. It's got me wondering whether perhaps the ducks are quacking in their sleep, and it's an odd involuntary type of duck snoring. It reminds me of that cliched cartoon snoring, you know where the character snorts as they breathe in, then goes "wee wee wee wee wee" as they breathe out? It's the ducks' way of going "wee wee wee wee wee".

That's my theory anyway.

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feeling:
currently watching: a mishmash of Athletics highlights
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