Sometimes young first year inexperienced ducks get caught out by the changing tide heights, some lay their eggs below the spring tide levels. One such case was last month when I spotted a scattered flooded nest with 10 eggs, two of which had been broken open by the gulls or crows. There was no point in leaving the eight remaining eggs since the mother had abandoned the nest which was being flooded daily. I took them home and checked to see if incubation had already started but appeared not so - but still viable so put them in the incubator. I already had another single egg in the fridge which unbelievably one young duck had laid on the stone riverside path, so I marked it with the letter S and put that in the incubator too ! After 6 days I candled the eggs and discovered that 8 had living embryos and one was a dud.
The above photo was taken this morning showing 4 newly hatched ducklings, the others should hatch within the next 24 hours. The single one marked with an S is still to hatch, but at least it will have many brothers and sisters to greet it !!
When safe to do so, these ducks will be reared and released back into the river.
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