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.

Looks chilly! I might be crossing a line here but a firm in Cornwall called Aquatic Consultancy does the electro-fishing thing I referred to. I appreciate they aren't local to you but they may be able to point you to a similar company. Just don't forget to get the ducks out first!

@WildRosie

Looks chilly! I might be crossing a line here but a firm in Cornwall called Aquatic Consultancy does the electro-fishing thing I referred to. I appreciate they aren't local to you but they may be able to point you to a similar company. Just don't forget to get the ducks out first!

I think at this point we accept what it is and just try and keep it as natural as possible, but thank you.

In other news we now only have five. I assume two have fledged. Duncan and Egwina were here last night and aren't now so looks like they left with them. Meanwhile the remaining five have crafted a route through the ice 😂

Gorgeous photos AlanThePig. 🙂

Oh bless them!!!! I don't want them to go though! 😂

Just been over for lunch. Dot is on the left.

Your pond looks so lovely.
How nice to wake up to that.

I hope they've fledged @AlanThePig ... Although I wanted to watch them forever ... Do keep updating! Perhaps they'll come back and start another generation in a year or two. All the free food and internet fame ...

I have been lurking for ages but just wanted to say this is one of my favourite threads ever 😍

Ooooh - proper snow!

In my head I have the nursery rhyme song: 5 little ducks went swimming one day...

Look how the babies have grown!!

@BendyLikeBeckham

In my head I have the nursery rhyme song: 5 little ducks went swimming one day...

Well that's todays ear worm now

Snowing heavily again here today, the channels they forged to the door yesterday are frozen over again so DH had braved the blizzard to hang off the pier and throw some food into the small patch of clear water. I thought he was going to kill me when I said 'whilst you're out there can you clear the bird tables and put some seed out'. He's now defrosting with a coffee.

I was planning a walk around town today but looking at the weather I'm staying right where I am.

This thread is on borrowed time

Perhaps you can do a winter and then spring watch?

@RandomMess

This thread is on borrowed time

Perhaps you can do a winter and then spring watch?

My friend has convinced me to start a blog and use it to show the pond over a year. I’ve created an Instagram as well as I think Ive bored my friends to death now 😂 I will of course start a new thread here, might not be all ducks though, just general pond life.

Thats great, thank you @AlanThePig

How have I only just seen this thread, it's perfectly lovely!

Hope the ducks don't get too cold in the snow!

Snow has stopped but it's bitterly cold. I've broken some ice away from around the duck house by leaning off the pier and smacking it with a brush. We've apparently got more forecast later.
I cant see them flying anywhere just yet, they are huddled and I expect them to stay until its warmed up a bit.

Have you still got five?

@101namesforme

Have you still got five?

We have, and still no sign of Egwina and Duncan.

Delurking to say thank you for this lovely thread and beautiful photos, I’ve really enjoyed following the ducklings and pond stories. Brings a smile to my face and feels like a moment of calm in a crazy world. Looking forward to more tales of the pond!

Re thread preservation. A candidate for Classics?

This was this morning. I was worried at one point the whole pond would end up with a covering of snow. I then panicked that someone might mistake it for garden and walk in it.
Happily it thawed a bit.

Just read the whole thread. So very heartwarming.

Apart from Dot & her parents, have you named any of the other kids ducklings?

@TracyBeakerSoYeah

Apart from Dot & her parents, have you named any of the other kids ducklings?

No, still pretty impossible to tell them apart. Dot is small, loud and obviously female so she sticks out a bit, the others are I think, all male so pretty indistinguishable. Shame really as I'm desperate to call one Webster.

There were moorhens here before we bought the place, must research and see if there is a way I can encourage them. Encouraging the ducks was reasonably easy, I put a pair of decoy ducks on the bank and Egwina and Duncan arrived within days.