Superduck - Who Dares Wins !

It must be pretty hard being a duck, and today I witnessed just how hard it can be. The previous post I thought the mother duck had 16 ducklings, but today she had 18, and what a mother she is ! In the space of 45 minutes I saw her save her ducklings from dogs, the cob swan, and the Heron ! I thought my eyes were deceiving me and counted the ducklings 3 times before realising she did have 18 ducklings. She took them along the rivers edge at the maggot only to be disturbed by dogs on two occasions. She moved her brood to mid river where the Cob was idling away his time and decided to investigate the ducklings. As he approached and jabbed at 2 ducklings the mother duck sprang into action and launched herself at the cob flying around him and pecking at his head and rear end - it was amazing. Meanwhile the ducklings dived under water to escape and formed a tight group away from the fight, the mother duck continued to attack the Swan and splashed furiously all around him - what a performance ! The Swan backed off and turned away and the mother duck returned to her brood, what a lesson for those ducklings ! Having won the battle the duck and her brood headed up river along the east side until they got to the shallows before the Merryton bridge. Who was waiting for a snack but our resident Heron, I watched as the ducklings darted ahead of the mother - ever closer to the heron. A few quick calls and the ducklings halted, the mother then ushered them to the side away from the beak ! She took the brood down towards the safety of the island and brought them over to let me have a look, they blended in to the moat shingle so well and I'm hopeful she will use the island as the haven it is. Don't let anyone tell you that ducks are poor Mothers, they have incredible odds to overcome but on today's evidence they are superb mothers.