LUCKY 13th

With very cold temperatures and snow forecast for the weekend, there is one very lucky duck and 11 ducklings safely in my care. 

 This morning I woke up to check the incubator and was delighted to see one of the ducklings hatched, and another 5 eggs already pipped. Later when doing my usual riverside round I was informed that there was a duck with a large brood at Merryton bridge. Sure enough it was one of the sisters of the duck that had her nest swamped last week, and she had a brood of 11 ducklings. 

 The north easterly wind was blowing up the river, it was so cold, brass monkeys came to mind ! 

Weather conditions and Crows would spell certain death for this brood. With the large net I managed to catch the mother and then the 11 ducklings, I was elated!

 This now gives me the intriguing possibility of having this mother as a proxy for the eggs now hatching in the incubator.

Ironically they are connected, since both mothers are sisters !  Pics show the rescued brood and also the newly hatched one in the incubator.