Marvellous Mallards

Warmest sunniest day so far this year, long may it continue ! Conditions are benign for the river wildlife, and not a moment too soon for all the new life thats appearing.

I am amazed at the Mallard ducks ability to look after so many ducklings, especially the mother with 19, although I think she may have lost a couple earlier tonight after going upstream to the merryton bridge. The mother ducks are getting smart though, and using the island and moat as a sanctuary at night and haven during the day. They are also getting wise to the hoodies, and wont tolerate them any where near the ducklings. Today I saw the mother of 19 react instantly to a hoodie crow that landed about 10 metres from her brood - by running to the attack. The other mother with the 4 eldest ducklings gave me a fantastic display of awareness and attacking ability when she jumped out of the water and grabbed a blackheaded gull by the rear end ! It got too close to the ducklings and was unable to escape the ducks grasp , it screeched and flapped and only escaped minus several feathers around it's rear end. The funniest thing was the duck trying to spit out the feathers, it was a truly unforgetable moment which would have been great to capture on camera !

I think the cygnets hatching are imminent, and I fancy a similar number to equal last years !