Got a fabulous surprise this morning whilst feeding the river birds. One of my most trusting ducks who eats out of my hand turned up at my feet with 10 beautiful ducklings !
She was as usual expecting to be hand fed and I obliged, the little ones were allowed to run around my feet and I was honoured at this show of trust.
This is a real triumph for her because I know she was nesting earlier this April around the harbour, but something must have happened to her clutch and nest. She had been displaying all the signs of nesting but after some weeks ended up at the Merryton bridge.
However over the past few weeks I realised she was again nesting and hoped she would succeed - today I was overjoyed at her success. The Crows have been particularly active in the past few days and 3 separate broods have lost ducklings. With this in mind I took the decision to relocate my river pal and brood to the Trust safe house meanwhile.
This has a particularly happy ending for the duckling brought home by a cat, for I have just added it to her brood and she has readily accepted it ! I will return the other duckling to it's mother and brood tomorrow ! This is one Pal who deserves to succeed and beat the crows ! Short clip below, minutes after entry to the safe house.
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