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Original poster

NOT what I expected to wake up to this morning...

969 replies

AlanThePig · 18/10/2020 15:12

Some of you might recall we have a rather large pond in our garden. On it we have a pair of ducks. First day of lockdown appeared ten, beautiful ducklings. They grew up, flew away and that was that until next spring.

Except I woke up to this......
There are ten more (seven in this photo) and I can only assume the warm weather has thoroughly confused her.

I'm now going spend the next few months fretting over bloody wildlife.

NOT what I expected to wake up to this morning...
OP posts:
Thread gallery
87
forrestgreen · 19/01/2021 13:44

Exciting news on the prospective duck town.

Original poster
AlanThePig · 18/01/2021 22:59

I have a sneaking suspicion 2021 might bring more ducks than we bargained for.
Egwina and Duncan are still here but so is the smaller female (who's just called dot now whether she is or isn't the original dot) and her male.

Usually when we've had other visiting pairs our two have given them pretty short shift and they fly off within hours, these two, although not exactly welcomed are tolerated.
Some snappy chasing going on at mealtimes, Egwina let's them know she's first for food, but they seem content to share the space.

Plan is to refloat the original house as soon as the weather is fit to pull it out and fit new foam, then get the new one (of which dh is still in th e process of ordering wood for) out there as well because I can see two nests coming here.

In other news I think our fox might have been trapped and killed. Not seen him since before Christmas and out local police have warned they have caught people trapping foxes and badgers in the area.
Badge wasn't a regular visitor so can't be sure about him, but even in the snow we didn't have fox footprints where they usually are so I fear the worst.
I've found myself glued to the cctv for the last two evenings hoping to spot him.
People are such bastards.

OP posts:
RedRosie · 18/01/2021 21:43

@AlanThePig! I thought it was all over and had pottered off sadly, but they're back!

Here's to a 2021 full of ducks. Expertly chronicled. With many pictures.

Goodness knows we all need the hope and new life. Smile

NoGoodPunsLeft · 18/01/2021 06:30

Lovely!

Horsemad · 17/01/2021 22:09
Smile
Original poster
AlanThePig · 17/01/2021 21:27

@fizzyp0p

Yay they're back
They are! Photo from yesterday, you can spot Egwina on the left. She's rather well fed 😂
NOT what I expected to wake up to this morning...
OP posts:
fizzyp0p · 17/01/2021 21:09

Yay they're back

Plump82 · 14/01/2021 17:16

I could find this thread at all so had to do a wee shout out for it.
These ducks are certainly keeping you on your toes!
Such a heart warming thread!

Original poster
AlanThePig · 14/01/2021 14:35

@RandomMess

At this rate you will have a duck colony!!
It's been snowing here all day, not sticking yet but I guess when the temperatures drop later it might well. Cant see any of them staying if we refreeze as badly as last week.
OP posts:
RandomMess · 14/01/2021 14:29

At this rate you will have a duck colony!!

Original poster
AlanThePig · 14/01/2021 14:08

@forrestgreen

Will you need another duck house if there's two pairs
I was thinking about this earlier. I think if we build the main one square, rather than the hexagonal I'd planned, and divide it into two we could house two nests. There is also the possibility of creating a floating plant island which would also offer nesting areas, I've seen this done with drain pipe and hessian.
OP posts:
forrestgreen · 14/01/2021 13:45

Will you need another duck house if there's two pairs

Original poster
AlanThePig · 14/01/2021 11:25

It's nice really him still being there, DH and I lived there 26 years before we moved so DS has never really known anywhere else. I also feel compelled to send Christmas cards to the old neighbours as I still see them so I now have two streets worth....

We have four ducks today, 2 breeding pairs by the looks of it. I'd usually expect some animosity between couples but these seem quite happy in each others company so I'm wondering if one of the newcomers is from our clutch in March.

@Skipsurvey we moved from 30 days so it wont disappear until full, when that happens I'll start another thread.

OP posts:
Skipsurvey · 14/01/2021 06:44

Just wondered might this thread disappear in a few days?

Skipsurvey · 14/01/2021 06:43

how fab that they returned ! Grin

babyneversleptthrough · 14/01/2021 06:29

That's amazing your son bought the house! Be interesting going to visit him. Hehe!

Horsemad · 14/01/2021 06:24

Aww, that's so sweet that your son bought his childhood home! ❤️

justanotherneighinparadise · 13/01/2021 20:12
Grin

Love the story about your son OP 🤭

Original poster
AlanThePig · 13/01/2021 20:07

@Santaiscovidfree

Lovely to catch up op!! As the dm of adult dc it doesn't get less stressful just because they have left home! You will still worry!! Congratulations on a job bloody well done! And to your dh for his groundsman role!!
I have 2 adult DC myself, both of which have left home now. Our DD was supposed to move with us when we came here but her partner got himself a job in Milton Keynes and off they went to make a start down there. DS meanwhile was aghast at the idea of us selling his childhood home and bought it from us, so we left home rather than him, something I'm still chuckling over.

Be interesting to see how many we have in the morning!

OP posts:
Santaiscovidfree · 13/01/2021 19:52

Lovely to catch up op!!
As the dm of adult dc it doesn't get less stressful just because they have left home!
You will still worry!!
Congratulations on a job bloody well done! And to your dh for his groundsman role!!

BarbarasStripedHands · 13/01/2021 19:46

Yay! This is excellent news. Your babies are coming home Grin

LadyEloise · 13/01/2021 18:31

See @AlanThePig, you haven't quite cut the apron strings yet. They heard about your empty nest syndrome and came back to cheer you up. Grin

RandomMess · 13/01/2021 17:51

🥰

Original poster
AlanThePig · 13/01/2021 16:46

Just drawn the curtains. We now have five. Another pair and a single male. Might be our grown up ducklings but realistically we will never know.

Definitely beat order more food. 😂

NOT what I expected to wake up to this morning...
OP posts:
mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 13/01/2021 15:28

Lovely - I used to live in a London semi, a stone's throw from the busy North Circular, with a garden with biggish pond so we got mallard pairs arriving from time to time. Eventually, one female was very taken with the idea of laying her eggs in our small back garden and she tried several times in several flowerbeds over two years. Eventually, she was sitting on eggs in a covered alcove between a shed and the house wall (with only ONE way out!!!). One morning I got up to find no eggs, no duck, a few feathers around - the fox had been. I always hoped that she had got away unscathed. She didn't come back again (can't blame her). I wish we'd had a duckhouse on the pond and she might have had a chance.

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