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.

I've only just found this thread but blimey, (apart from losing the two little ducklings), this has had me beaming from ear to ear!!!!
Those ducks are lucky to have you 🦆🦆🦆

Horrible day here, good weather for ducks though I guess, fortunately its also still quite mild. Still have 8 and mum seems to have gotten a little more risk aware too, gathering them close when the heron visits. Not that he seems even slightly interested in them so I think I might be worrying too much over him.

She's led them to a huge puddle on the driveway earlier where they happily splashed for ten minutes, they then came to the door and shouted for food and are now having a snooze on the platform.

Not seen bastard cat since DH's little run in yesterday morning. Hopefully it stays that way.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

Oh poor thing, she looks fed up, doesn't she

Bit projection there! 😂😂

Love baby ducks, so lovely to watch them grow!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, this is fab!

What a lovely thread (apart from the cat intervention, of course).

Love the photos.

Thanks, OP!

Omg they are adorable ❤️

I’ve just been reading a cv thread and felt a bit fed up (need to stay away from them) but this has really cheered me up. Thank you so much @AlanThePig for sharing.

More sad news this morning. There are now only seven.

The only good thing I can take from this is Egwina isn't stressed, there has been no frantic flapping and calling from either her or Duncan so I'm leaning more toward it dying naturally than being taken. Her reaction to the two being nabbed by the cat was extreme so I'm sure if something had taken this one we'd know.

Oh well. Onwards.

This thread’s made my day.

Or it had until I saw your updates. Hope the rest survive unscathed.

For some reason I cant post pics today. Trying again...

Ah there we go. The magnificent seven.

To be fair I wasn't expecting any to get this far at this time of year so we're not doing so badly.

Sadly it's why they have such big clutches isn't it? Spares so a few survive. Awful but nature is as cruel as it is beautiful.

Here's hoping the magnificent seven do well.

They are growing quickly, thank you op !

Awww this is so lovely to read.

Our boy cat is doing his best to keep down the grey squirrel numbers. I think by the time the reds get to where we live our cat will be deceased or at least more incapable of catching anything. He is such a klutz but despite his bell we get the occasional gift but we do wonder if it's more by luck than virtue...

Hopefully they are enjoying the dismal weather???

@Dreading2020sSeasonFinale

Sadly it's why they have such big clutches isn't it? Spares so a few survive. Awful but nature is as cruel as it is beautiful.

Here's hoping the magnificent seven do well.

I seem to recall reading they average about 4 surviving. We had ten last time (11 to start and one just vanished like this one) so I think we were probably a bit lucky there.

They are almost too big to play the lily pad hopping game now as they sink them. Very mild again, I've just been putting a few ghosts in the tree wearing just a T Shirt.

DH told me this morning he forgot Simon Le Bone was there last night and nearly gave himself heart failure. Wait until he spots the wraith in the arbour

Ha ha ha! I just love your Simon Le Bone, but yep, I'd do the same. I have a ghoul hanging beside my front door and almost dies last night when going out to the bin when it surprised me by leaping out to attack (aka the wind blew it a bit)

I must say, I’ve never really seen the Male hanging out with the female and young

Usually I see a shag and then they are off to the pub never to be seen again!

@Soubriquet

I must say, I’ve never really seen the Male hanging out with the female and young

Usually I see a shag and then they are off to the pub never to be seen again!

They are quite the couple, have been for 2 years now. He does normally stay more during the winter months so its probably more habit than good fathering, but both of them and the babies are all huddled together on duck island at the moment.

Just after Christmas is when the males turn up looking for a shag, thats when the fights start. Thats when I invariably end up lobbing a bucket of cold water over scrapping males under the front window. Mating season is horribly violent. Males can and do kill each other and females can be drowned by being held under. Not pleasant really.

Yeah I’ve disturbed many a duck rape

They really are quite brutal

Still seven ❤️

Spent most of the morning chasing the heron down the drive. Cold and wet here today and they have been in a huddle for most of the day.

2 weeks old on Sunday, so almost halfway to full size.

Love this thread. Thanks for keeping us updated. So nice to read something happy! Fingers crossed for them. Keep up the great work.

Still seven @AlanThePig?

(Everything crossed)

Yep still seven❤️

Severe weather warning for the weekend, hopefully they will hunker down. Still very mild though happily.