This week has been busy and interesting - with Nipper the duckling getting it's wing strapped , and all kinds of interesting things happening on the river. Nipper had to have the wing bandaged several times since it was so adept at removing the wrapping ! Yet another Mother duck turned up with 8 new ducklings, all well advanced 
about 5 + weeks old . One of them is a real attractive hybrid with a white collar, yellow bill and strong white markings on the side. This brings the total ducklings this season around the 55 mark so far ! I am wondering why such a good success rate, the best since I have been observing the river over the past 8 years. I have come to the conclusion that the very long harsh winter, and
very cold non existent spring has had a lot to do with it. I think the survival element kicked in big time, and with most of the ducks experienced from previous years, many did not show up until their ducklings were several weeks old and safe from local predators. The fact that many people did not attempt to feed the ducklings early this year also had a big
bearing on their survival, Well done ! We can now all enjoy feeding lots of ducks over the coming year. The cormorant showed up yesterday and gave the seagulls a lesson on how to catch eels and eat them without leaving the water !
about 5 + weeks old . One of them is a real attractive hybrid with a white collar, yellow bill and strong white markings on the side. This brings the total ducklings this season around the 55 mark so far ! I am wondering why such a good success rate, the best since I have been observing the river over the past 8 years. I have come to the conclusion that the very long harsh winter, and
very cold non existent spring has had a lot to do with it. I think the survival element kicked in big time, and with most of the ducks experienced from previous years, many did not show up until their ducklings were several weeks old and safe from local predators. The fact that many people did not attempt to feed the ducklings early this year also had a big
bearing on their survival, Well done ! We can now all enjoy feeding lots of ducks over the coming year. The cormorant showed up yesterday and gave the seagulls a lesson on how to catch eels and eat them without leaving the water ! 
To cap it all, what a fabulous sunset the other night, just magical !
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