Disco Befriends Injured Duck

 Caring for the injured duck and her ducklings is an awkward business, with Saffron and her growing family eager to attack the new incomers.

 The injured mother duck is on the mend but has an injury to her left eye. 

The eyelid membrane which protects the eye when under water or in flight has been damaged, it appears to be effecting her ability to put her head under water.

 She has been limited to the aviary water tubs, and today I confined Saffron and her brood to the aviary. 

This let Disco and the injured mother with ducklings into the garden and use the pond. 

Disco has her broken wing, and also arthritic left leg, so maybe knows the mother duck was injured too. 

Anyway, Disco seemed to befriend the duck and her ducklings as well, which made for a pleasant sunny afternoon.

 This bodes well, as they will be together for the next 7 weeks at least. Short video below.

Disco's Daughter Returns !

Quite incredible surprise the other day, when Saffron her ducklings and Disco were crowded and quacking at the garden gate. 

All became clear when I heard a duck quacking on the opposite side of the gate... it was one of Disco's daughters that we released last week into the river. What makes this remarkable is the fact that they were transported under cover by car to the riverside from the centre of Town. 

This was not a case of imprinting on me, after some thought something much more interesting. Disco's brood of 10 were born in the garden some 50 metres from the Town clock. 

This clock chimes every hour 24/7, something all the ducklings in Trust care hear for the duration of their lives with the Trust. I reckon that disco's daughter having been pounced on by the river Drakes on the day of release, took to hiding in the riverside bushes and gradually over a week, worked her way back, using the Town clock chimes as her navigation! Ducks have the same 5 senses that humans have, some of them more advanced than ours ! They can hear each other peeping before they hatch. 

I'll  release her again along with Saffron and her brood in around 10 days time.  

Nairn Swans Spread Their Wings

Looks like Slim and Sue's offspring of 2020 have moved back closer to home. The small body of wetlands known as the Ministers pond not far from the river, has a pair of Swans and 5 cygnets hatched about 2 weeks ago. This was the area where Slim and Sue offloaded their first youngsters. Nature played a hand in this when Storm Arwen blasted tons of sand along the coastline and blocked off the escaping water from the Ministers pond. This had the effect of enlarging the pond and providing new habitat for waterfowl. The reeds and grasses extended and the swans took the opportunity of building a nest. My guess is one of Slim and Sues female cygnets got herself a mate, and returned to the territory she knew when nature fortuitously provided a nesting site. 

They brought their 5 cygnets into the river a week ago but were escorted back out by Slim Sue and their 6 cygnets. Thanks to Trust members John and Linda for the photo's of the extended swan family.

Injured Duck Improving

Our injured rescue duck is improving and has now been moved into the outdoor aviary. 

The treatment for pain relief has finally allowed her to have the ducklings closely under her wings. 

Hopefully she will make a full recovery with no lasting ill effects.

Double Rescue - Mother - Ducklings

Another dramatic day on the riverside, just as I was beginning to relax after the last release. Trust member and riverside resident Ian Pollock saw a Mother duck being pounced on by several Drakes and severely injured. He climbed down the footbridge at Merryton and picked up the injured, exhausted bird for the attention of the Trust.

 On inspection it was doubtful she would survive more than a few hours as she was one of the worst cases I'd seen for a while. I left her in peace and quiet for a couple of hours before  giving her treatment - Anti inflammatory / pain killer. Within a couple more hours Ian phoned again with the news that 6 ducklings were on the river with apparently no mother around... could it be that the injured duck was their Mother ?  

Was obvious that a rescue had to be mounted before the predators got the ducklings. Supplied with Net and wellies Ian managed to catch all 6 in two lots, a job well done ! The acid test was seeing if these were in fact Mother and her recently hatched  Ducklings ? Putting them in beside her, my heart sank when she warned them away as they were peeping and desperate to get under her. They obviously recognised her as mum. The realization dawned on me that she was in such pain that she could not bear to be touched, even by her ducklings ! 

However, one persistent little duckling eventually got under her front.. the part with no injury, and as the treatment took effect, one even got on her back! When she is out of danger, I'll transfer her and ducklings to the outside aviary. Thanks to Ian and the Trust, we might just get a happy ending to this one !

Successful Release - Disco's Ducklings

After 2 months careful nurturing, it was time to release Disco's 10 ducklings to the wild. 

These ducklings are the result of Ebony and Disco mating earlier in the spring. They are special in the sense that they are likely to be carrying the white genes that produce some attractive white ducks. 

Only one of the 10 turned out to be white, but the others will most likely carry the genes too. Hopefully this will create duck diversity on the river. Short video clip below.

Lost Duckling Reunited With Mum

 Yesterday a lost duckling was found at the end of the pier.  It was picked up by a tourist and dropped into the river beside the Swans and ducks. Fortunately I happened to arrive as it happened. I knew from experience that it would be attacked and most likely killed in a matter of minutes. My only option was to pick it up and look for it's mother who must have just hatched it that day. I spent an hour looking along the riverside to no avail, and took it home to the brooder box. 

After a while getting warmed up, it started eating and became lively, and today I contacted a few Trust members to keep a look out for a duck with newly hatched ducklings. Within a short while, I got a call from Ian Pollock who spotted a frantic duck near the harbour entrance trying to encourage some ducklings who were trapped in a Lobster creel on top of the harbour wall. I knew this was the lost ducklings mum and brought it down to the frantic mum.

 Meanwhile Ian went over to the creels and manged to free the 4 trapped ducklings, one of which is a yellow cutie, and we dropped them all into the harbour to be reunited with their mum ! 

                 Incredibly it was the same mum who produced the 4 yellow ducklings in March - the ones I kept for 9 weeks and released only a few weeks ago. This was a good satisfying day on the river !    

Disco's Bath

 This week will see the release of Disco's 10 ducklings into the river. 

They are now over 8 weeks old and on the verge of fledging.

 Disco will of course have to stay home, but I think she'll be quite happy to see the back of them, with a bit more space for herself and Saffron.

 She has taken to having a bath in the food bowl when I put fresh water in it, short video below.

 

Goosander

Our resident Goosander and chicks are as eye catching as ever. 

The mother is a fast moving defender of her chicks and fears nothing on the river. 

Yesterday she chased herring gulls amassed at the  shallows.

 Short videos below as she went for a gull that was in her path, also video today with piggy back youngsters. 

The Nature Of Nairn

The past few days has been glorious weather - long overdue. 

This gave me the opportunity for some close up shots and video of some of the river wildlife.

 The cygnets are almost 4 weeks old and cute as ever. 

The duck of the year had a cross word with Sue our swan when she tried to intimidate her ducklings.

 The goosander made it plain to the heron that her chicks were not on the menu either! 

My little Robin friend has been feeding youngsters all day, back and forth for crushed peanut pieces. 

With the setting sun on the river , it was hard to tear myself away from the nature of Nairn. 

Taking advantage of my privileged position with Slim and Sue, Short video below.  

Goosander Chicks

Our resident Goosander has turned up with 10 chicks, much to the delight of locals and visitors, even Slim and Sue had a good look as well. 

The mother Goosander was observing closely , as her chicks kept diving and fishing. 

When the swans got too close the chicks jumped on mums back and headed away.  2 short videos below.

Duck Of The Year !

 Following on the previous post, the Mother Duck that has adopted the 6 orphans is guarding them well. 

She is keeping all threats away and her 2 own larger ducklings are also exemplary support.

 I reckon she is Duck of the year !