At the point of writing, the latest new season duckling figures are, 73 fatalities and 17 survivors ! These are pretty grim statistics and shows the increase in predator activity compared to a few years ago. It has been a bad year for ducklings, weather has been cold all year, lack of insect life and high water spates have all contributed to the high mortality. Put into context, out of 43 ducks capable of nesting and producing young throughout the river this year, only 5 currently have any young at all - this does not bode well for future stocks. The photo of the mother and one duckling, are all that's left of her brood of 9 - she is one of the lucky ones - so far !
2 comments:
I think the ducks are feeding the other wildlife on purpose...You guys have a lack of little fish due to commercial overfishing... We have the same thing here...The ducks are filling the food gap with their own...Nature is benevolent...
Well It's a little bit more complex here in the urban environment. Overfishing is a global issue now, but locally we have no control over the increase predator number of crows for instance. They are in fact the biggest killers of ducklings in the spring, followed by herring gulls and heron. It is legal to kill crows, but in this urban environment they would probably have to be trapped.
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