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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
Original poster
AlanThePig · 25/12/2020 14:22

Im in the Midlands @LadyEloise and we had a thick frost this morning. They are really unsure of it. DH took a video which I'll try and upload....

OP posts:
LadyEloise · 25/12/2020 14:20

Gosh - we have lovely mild weather in Dublin, Ireland.
Are you in the UK , @AlanThePig ?
Happy Christmas 🎅🏻🎄

Original poster
AlanThePig · 25/12/2020 14:07

Frozen solid today except for a small area around the duck house. Have managed to get some food over there as they are scared to walk on the ice.
Merry Christmas!

NOT what I expected to wake up to this morning...
OP posts:
WildRosie · 25/12/2020 12:19

Thanks Alan. Your goldfish will probably change colour from orange to dull bronze over time, in other words, the usual carp colour. I think rudd and roach are quite similiar in appearance with bright red fins and tails. Your ordinary, everyday carp would probably do well in your pond, provided it doesn't get overcrowded, and may even interbreed with your goldfish.

Original poster
AlanThePig · 24/12/2020 23:08

@WildRosie

Alan, just out of curiosity, do you know if there are any fish in your pond ?

Merry Christmas.

There are. We have them on video somewhere, I’ll have a look after Christmas. DH has one of those waterproof cameras you put into drains and he put that in the pond last year. We know there are roach and rudd as well as the monster goldfish that someone must have thrown in years ago. We aren’t a fishing family but we did let a neighbour fish it once out of curiosity. Mostly quite small roach were caught and thrown back in.

It’s about 15/20ft deep in parts so we’ve wondered if bigger ones lurk down there. In the summer months they come up and if you throw a round a bread in they attack it like pirhannas Grin

OP posts:
BendyLikeBeckham · 24/12/2020 22:46

Yes, thank you for sharing.

Merry Duckmas Everyone!

fizzyp0p · 24/12/2020 22:32

Merry Christmas OP and your lovely ducks

latheritup · 24/12/2020 22:17

This thread is the best! Grin

WildRosie · 24/12/2020 22:09

Alan, just out of curiosity, do you know if there are any fish in your pond ?

Merry Christmas.

Original poster
AlanThePig · 24/12/2020 22:05

Aww thank you all.
When I started this thread over on 30 days I was full of hope that we could get a couple of little ducklings to adulthood. Thank you all for your support through bastard cats, abandoning parents and emergency platform building.

Merry Christmas to you all from me and the magnificent seven. Flowers

OP posts:
thesandwich · 24/12/2020 21:51

Another big thank you!

Horsemad · 24/12/2020 20:28

@RedRosie

I just wanted to say Happy Christmas *@AlanThePig*, and thank you for this thread, which has been like a candle in the darkness.

So much horror in the world, but one lovely pond and watching a bunch of cute ducklings growing up has been fabulous ...

Thanks so much for sharing.

🦆

They are truly captivating! ❤️
101namesforme · 24/12/2020 18:57

@RedRosie

I just wanted to say Happy Christmas *@AlanThePig*, and thank you for this thread, which has been like a candle in the darkness.

So much horror in the world, but one lovely pond and watching a bunch of cute ducklings growing up has been fabulous ...

Thanks so much for sharing.

🦆

Couldn’t agree more!

Have a lovely Christmas!

RedRosie · 24/12/2020 18:55

I just wanted to say Happy Christmas @AlanThePig, and thank you for this thread, which has been like a candle in the darkness.

So much horror in the world, but one lovely pond and watching a bunch of cute ducklings growing up has been fabulous ...

Thanks so much for sharing.

🦆

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 24/12/2020 15:30

They are cute & in excellent condition.
Somehow I think they won't ever leave home.

RandomMess · 24/12/2020 15:19

Awwwwww 🥰

I'm a little bit in love!

Original poster
AlanThePig · 24/12/2020 15:14

Outside the front door earlier. Still can’t decide who’s male and who’s female.
Duncan and Egwina have shown their beaks as well today.

NOT what I expected to wake up to this morning...
OP posts:
WildRosie · 24/12/2020 13:43

Indian Runner ducks carry themselves in a quite upright position. A few of those would look like a dance troupe when they follow you up the driveway. Aylesbury ducks, on the other hand, are just fat, white waddlers.

BendyLikeBeckham · 24/12/2020 10:15

Very grand plans indeed! It sounds like it would look amazing. They are very lucky ducks!

RandomMess · 24/12/2020 10:11

😂

Original poster
AlanThePig · 24/12/2020 09:53

@RandomMess

So no flight practice tonight then?
They would have been assisted trying to fly in that last night, blown into the next county 😂
OP posts:
RandomMess · 23/12/2020 23:07

So no flight practice tonight then?

Original poster
AlanThePig · 23/12/2020 22:26

@BendyLikeBeckham

They are indeed disgustingly messy and poopy, OP. And duck houses need cleaning out regularly because of that. But haven't you got that to do anyway? Wink

I agree, the commercial floating duck houses are more ornamental than functional. You'd be best off getting a cheap dog kennel, painting it with marine paint and mounting it on the platform you already built.

In my head the new house will be amazing. Current platform is crap wood and was only knocked together as a temporary thing so that needs to come in really. We're going for a much larger hexaganol house on a large, round platform. From that we plan to try and make a smaller round platform which we will tether to the first, and because things look better in threes I want to try and get a small third round in there too.

Nothing to update here today. It's been extremely wet and windy and they have spent most of the day sheltering around the pier. Turns out when we built that it's a bit of a haven for them too. I've spent the afternoon watching Clash of the Titans under a blanket with chocolate and being a kid again so not much has been done today. DH was summoned several times for food today.

Also had another Christmas card with a note thanking us for our work with the pond. Am now slightly paranoid the street are discussing us 😂

OP posts:
BendyLikeBeckham · 23/12/2020 20:17

They are indeed disgustingly messy and poopy, OP. And duck houses need cleaning out regularly because of that. But haven't you got that to do anyway? Wink

I agree, the commercial floating duck houses are more ornamental than functional. You'd be best off getting a cheap dog kennel, painting it with marine paint and mounting it on the platform you already built.

SOmuchsparkle · 23/12/2020 08:04

Omg 💚💖💛 this thread!

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