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

[AlanThePig]

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.

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

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.

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.

Awwwwww 🥰

I'm a little bit in love!

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

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.

🦆

@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

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! ❤️

Another big thank you!

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.

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

Merry Christmas.

This thread is the best!

Merry Christmas OP and your lovely ducks

Yes, thank you for sharing.

Merry Duckmas Everyone!

@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

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.

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!

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

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....

I'm struggling with this upload (having internet issues here yet again), I'll try again later

Lovely Xmas pic - thank you @AlanThePig

I found this thread in November, read the whole thing but then couldn’t ever find it again and assumed the 30 days were up and the thread gone, however I’ve just had it come up on my active threads. Lovely to catch up and hear that the ducklings (if they can still be called this at their size!) are still with you and doing well. Hope they’ll stay with you at least until the new year nlw.

We had snow yesterday and woke up to more snow today - a fair sprinkling.
Wishing us all a very Quacky Christmas!

What a dream to have that in your garden. How much does it cost to keep up to it?

Have you ever swum in it? What do you need to make a wild swimming pond?