Doris Ducklings D - Day

After 8 weeks care, Doris and her Ducklings have been released back to the wild. 

Conditions were ideal for a successful release, with warm sunshine, Spring tides, and Doris's leg healed even better than I had ever hoped ! 

The spring tides for the coming week will allow her to access the banks more easily, also show her ducklings the whole length of the tidal reaches.

 My thanks to Martin our Trust chairman for the transport to the riverside. Doris is currently moulting she is the one with the white feathers showing on her back. 2 Short videos below, one the day before release - noisy female excitement with Doris active exiting the pool. 

 

Successful Release

                     Ideal day for introducing the Ducklings to the river. With the Help of Martin and Donald, all 15 were loaded up and transported down to a quiet spot. There was 9 females and 6 males, which was a nice change from too many Drakes. I'm happy to say that quite a few take after Disco. 

They were hatched 52 days ago and now capable of flight. It will take them a few days to get used to the new environment, but when I left them, they were already being eyed over by 4 regular residents.
Disco knew it was time for them to leave, and will happily get back to normal. short clip below.

Longest Day

The Summer Solstice was the release date for Disco's ducklings. This happened this morning, and due to making a mistake with the camera I did not record the event !  

However, by chance one of our Trust members was on the Merryton bridge with a camera phone and did record the event. Link is HERE. 

Been a funny sort of day, as Duke stayed in the Moat with one cygnet while Penny took the other six down river. This never happened with Penny and her previous mate Popeye. I heard from another Trust member that Duke spent half an hour chasing some ducks near the Swans Island. It might well have been the ducklings I released this morning - I hope he has not scared them off !

The mother duck with 6 small ducklings is still on the go having had 9 ten days ago. I also noticed another duck with 5 large ducklings arriving at the Merryton bridge this evening, she has been seen up river near the granites pool for some time.

The cygnets are growing at an incredible rate, and show no signs of slowing down. 

Conditions have been perfect for them with river weed and grasses in abundance. 

Recognition

After yesterdays ducklings release, I was keen to see how they had survived their first night on the river, and was delighted to see them all together. What was even more of a surprise was the fact that after 2 months I believe their parents recognised them.

At one point today the ducklings were resting on the shingle and the parents came alongside in the river and spent quite some time observing them. The mother only had them a few days before the big flood in August, but I'm certain out of all the new ducks on the river she recognised them.

In the photos the parents are on the right in the water, and her daughter is sitting on the shingle - and she is her double !  I even think the daughter recognises her mother too ! As a lover of these remarkable birds, this is a real eye opener for me.

Bertha's Babes Successful Release

After 8 weeks sanctuary with the River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust, the nine saved ducklings were successfully returned to the river today.

With the help of friend and trust member George Stephen, we introduced the ducklings to the lower river where they relished in fresh water and freedom !

Within a short time they were already approaching some other resident ducks, and sampling the river bottom. Six are females and three drakes, which is a welcome change from the many predominant males.

Later with Penny leading the way, the Swans decided to avoid walking over the pesky shingle

and had a fly - run to the Merryton bridge for their feed.

Successful Release

                  
After 3 weeks Trust protection, the rescued Glebe Road mother and her ducklings were successfully released into the river today. 
   

Their chances of long term survival are now greater than before. Short video below.

Ducklings Successful Release

After 2 months care and attention the saved ducklings were finally released into the river today. 

Helped by friend and trust member George Stephen with transport to the riverside, I opened the boxes and let them taste the new habitat.

They were quickly into their element and sampled the algae from the stones, something completely new to them. I think most of them are females and quickly drew admirers from the drake population,

some of them were given short shrift from our youngsters. It has been a lot of work over the last two months, so I am glad to see them safely into the river.