When chickadees attack you know they're hungry.
That's what happened when it was 40 below last week and Paul Cailleaux and Brock Bailey crossed the bridge to feed the ducks at Cottonwood Island Park as they winter in Prince George.
"We were attacked by song birds because nobody was feeding them," Cailleaux laughed. The little birds flocked to land on his and Bailey's arms on the coldest day and the chickadees were very disappointed to discover that duck food and chickadee food are very different things.
So, of course, like the kind-hearted people they are, Cailleaux and Bailey bought bird seed more compatible to the chickadee's delicate digestive system than the barley and cracked corn that's used to feed the ducks every day.
That's right. Every day no matter what the temperature, Cailleaux and Bailey feed the ducks so they can maintain their body weight to survive the harshest part of the winter.
At first there were about 600 mallard ducks and Cailleaux and Bailey, who have been friends for more than 25 years and have fed the ducks for about five years now, decided to wait them out to see if some of them would fly south for the winter.
When they went to start feeding the ducks right after the new year the volunteer pair discovered there were about 300 ducks that decided they would take their chances here.
"When it's really cold the ducks don't move very much, they want to conserve their energy and sit and keep warm," Bailey said. "For the two days that it was really cold we came down here and the ice was backing up with over flow, so it was a little bit dangerous."
"He broke through and I wasn't here to save him," Cailleaux said.
Bailey was quick to dismiss it by saying that he only broke through the ice about a foot or so. It wasn't that big a deal to him.
"When it started to warm up a bit Paul and I came down and started to shovel (because the feed will get lost in the snow) and made a clearing and it didn't take very long and the ducks started chowing down," Bailey said. "They've had about three days of good feeding now."
The ducks were taking their time to come get the feed Sunday morning. There was a lot of people in the park on the first warm day Prince George has seen in a while.
Bailey would like to remind everyone to please not let their dogs chase the ducks as they are trying to avoid any extra expenditure of energy as they are just trying to survive the season.
"The ducks will walk over to the feed rather than fly because they don't want to waste the energy," Bailey added. When there's too many people in the park the ducks won't come near the bridge where the feed is spread on the frozen waterway.
"These are wild ducks," Bailey said. "These birds are not like the little ones that flock to the people on the bridge."
The ducks need a peaceful opportunity to feed, he added.
Bailey explained how the dominant birds will always eat first and it only takes a couple of them to make tracks towards the feed and because they're herd birds, the rest will soon follow.
Bailey makes sure he spreads the feed far and wide so that the females and the few wood ducks that are with the mallards are able to feed, too. If the feed isn't spread out the males will chase all the others away.
"At least if it's spread out the others have a crack at it, too," Bailey said.
Cailleaux and Bailey, who are members of Ducks Unlimited Canada, an organization that conserves wetlands and other natural spaces for waterfowl, wildlife, and people, volunteer their time and pay for the food that feeds the ducks.
"It's non-stop dining for them," Caileaux said.
Those 300 ducks need at least three 20 kg bags of food every day and Bailey and Cailleaux have both invested about $200 each so far and as others have donated food, they are hoping more will help out and donate to the cause through Spruce Capital Feeds where people can buy bags of whole barley and cracked corn and then Cailleaux or Bailey will pick up the bags as needed.
"We really appreciate anything people can do to help us," Bailey said. "The more people can help out the easier it is for us."
The ducks will be fed right up until the end of February, Bailey said. So there's still a ways to go before the the volunteer pair are done this chore.
"We won't help them gain weight but we should be able to help them maintain what they've got until spring and they're able to find food on their own," Bailey said.
To donate visit Spruce Capital Feeds at 1694 Quinn St. South.
