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Sadly 2 of the rescued ducklings that I released have been killed in the harbour yesterday. With this weeks high spring tides I saw 5 of the ducklings up at the Merryton bridge, and thought maybe they had just been separated after leaving the harbour. This has been my main fear after their release, that they would fall victim to predators before they got river wise to the dangers.
I released them before the spring tides so that they would gain a weeks experience before the high tides during the night. The harbour can be a safe place, but also a death trap if used by the Otters, Mink or Seals for hunting.
The good news is that the other 5 are now close to their Mum, and Sari and Joe are still alive !
If they can survive the next 5 days tides, they should be pretty well integrated with all the other ducks and aware of all the dangers.
I hope our new
Trust members have now received your membership cards posted recently.
These are a few pics of Sari and Jo that I took over the last few weeks, for my Canadian Swan Friends, Sari and Joseph Grove.
Today I decided the ducklings were too big to be attacked by the Sparrowhawk and let them out of the Aviary into the garden. They are growing very fast due to the grower pellet feeding. I give them a lot of lettuce, spinach and grass, the ground is too hard for worms but they forage around just the same. Sari and Joe bottom pic. Short vid below.
The three remaining cygnets are in perfect health and getting that little bit whiter every week. The cold snap sees all the birds looking for food, and the rescued ducklings were being eyed up by a crow just outside the aviary this morning ! They are now a month old and twice the size they would have been in the wild - not that they would have lasted two days anyway. Their oil glands are doing the business and providing full waterproofing ! Short video below of Sari and Joe having a bath, they are the two light coloured ones ! ( Named in honour of my Canadian allies )
I have just received an update on the rats situation from Mr Alan Bentley, the rats appear to be taking the bait laid down by the rat catcher. I have checked the area myself every day, and have seen no rat tracks for the past 4 days. I only hope the bait is not available to the numerous small birds in their vital winter undergrowth !
