Predators 47 Ducks 0

With the nesting season halfway through, the tidal reaches of the river are proving to be disastrous for this years ducklings. So far 47 ducklings have been wiped out by the gulls and crows. The last sizeable brood of 9 were all taken within three days. People keep asking me "where are all the ducklings ? "

It is extremely depressing seeing newly hatched ducklings, taken to feed even more of these predators. Yesterday evening I saw a gull swoop down and pick up one of only two ducklings left on the lower river. I again appeal to those people who continue to feed the gulls on the river to stop doing it, creating a gull colony on the river is bad news for other species. Predation appears to stop at the gulls and crows, to the detriment of other species. The only survivors  are 7 links ducklings that I kept out of harms way in the Aviary for 3 weeks,

before putting them into the river.