It feels like a popular uprising, spoonie lovers from across the continent coming out of the closet and professing their love for the “Hollywood Mallard.”
In case you’ve yet to see it, we put a northern shoveler, aka spoonbill, on the cover of our summer magazine. The musings on our Facebook page have been uniformly positive, even amorous. In fact, we haven’t had one unfavorable response.
Wrote Mike Wise: “I like seeing the ‘hollywood mallard’ on the cover. Nice change and nice lookin’ bird in my opinion.”
Wrote Cole Wesley: “Got my first one last fall. Nice big drake, one of the better looking birds around.”
Wrote James Upton: “Botox mallard, lov Em.”
Wrote: Jon Steward: “LOVE ‘the always willing to decoy’ Shoveler! They smile all the way to the blind! Contrary to common belief, they are VERY good eating.”
While the masses are heaping lovin’ spoonfuls on the oft-disrespected spoonie, they’re also shredding conventional wisdom that every magazine cover must feature a drake mallard, pintail, canvasback or some other “sexy” bird.
It helps that Fred Greenslade shot the photo, of course. Let’s face it: Fred knows his way around a camera lens. His cover, shot at Delta Marsh in Manitoba, is, as one Facebooker put it, a flawless picture.
What pleases me most is that many are extolling the virtues of spoonies as worthy table fare. I couldn’t agree more, although it should be noted that I’ve received numerous comments over the years to the contrary.
I wrote a newspaper column several years back about orchestrating a blind taste test with some of my hunting buddies. I grilled spoonie breasts for a simple in-the-field duck sandwich I like to make with caramelized onions and horseradish sauce. I told them I was using mallard breasts, and they gobbled the sandwiches down like they had been fasting for a month.
Needless to say they were shocked—and satisfyingly full.
My point: Spoonies are as good in the pan as they are on a magazine cover.
I wish Delta made the Spoonie decal. I would be sporting that on the Chevy.
ReplyDeleteDear anonymous... Your not alone on the decal... Many of our volunteers have asked me for them here in the southeast. I used it for my FB profile picture for a while, needless to say the phone and emails lit up. Tori.. thanks for another great read! Keep up the good work. Chris Williams. Delta Waterfowl - Atlantic Flyway Regional Director
ReplyDeleteWe have tons of spoonbills in New Orleans
ReplyDeleteEven more prior to the big hurricane
Lots of them get shot down here, so thanks for the article
As a hunter in the Atlantic Flywasy (Prince Edward Island) I would like to see a Black Duck on a future Delta Magazine cover. When my father would tell me that he was going duck hunting I still remember as a boy waiting for Mallards to appear upon his return. When he did arrive home with Black Ducks my eyes were confused lol. I think I was prepared to see Mallards because of Nintendo's Duck Hunt game. Also I didn't see Black Ducks mentioned in the preview of Breeding season numbers????
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