Cute Ducklings

Some cute duckling pics, 

short video clip below, preening after they had their bath.

Merganser and Goosanders

Only yards apart today were a pair of Goosanders and a Red breasted male Merganser.

 Happily preening in the rare sunshine. Goosanders not yet nesting....wise birds I think !

First Bath

The incubator hatched ducklings had their first bath today, thoroughly enjoyed it as you would expect. Had to make the water tepid, and only give them a about 10 minutes until they get a little older. I'm really pleased we have 2 golden ones they will keep each other company and not be the odd one out.
One duckling has a serious problem which I only discovered yesterday, it has slipped tendons on both legs and is unable to walk or stand. It may have been the fact that hatching was delayed by a few days because of the immersion in cold water. 

This may have resulted in distortion within the shell. I have slipped the tendons back where they belong and bandaged the legs straight for the moment. It means hand feeding and watering it frequently throughout the day, will consult the vet tomorrow to see if anything further can be done.  Ducklings first bath short video below.

Keeping Warm

The birds are feeling the cold, and I pity any that have hatched in the wild in recent days. 

The 13 newly hatched ducklings are keeping warm together, and the Mother duck in the Aviary is doing her best to keep her 12 under wraps too !

Even Popeye was breaking the cold northerly wind for Penny on the nest, hopefully this cold spell wont last too long. Amazingly I spotted some Sand Martins arriving today !

MORE GOLD !!

After 3 days hatching, I awaited the final duckling to hatch from the incredible 14 egg survival saga. With bated breath it finally broke free, and I was overjoyed to see yet again another golden duckling !  
One of my previous posts was entitled the miracle of eggs, only days after that, the trust rescued 14 eggs on the 6th of April.

 Today all 14 eggs have hatched and the ducklings are feeding happily by themselves. 

Considering these eggs were under icy water for several hours with less than week to hatch, is truly a miracle of survival. Short video below showing feeding time.

PURE GOLD !

This morning my wishes have come true, a beautiful pure gold duckling appeared from one of the saved eggs. I Knew that the mother was carrying Blondie's DNA, and her offspring might produce a white duckling. When first hatched these ducklings are pure gold but turn white by 6 weeks old.

Yesterdays first hatched duckling was stealthily introduced to the mother in the Aviary last night as she settled down for the night.

After a talk with Sue our Avian adviser, who suggested I should do this after dark since the mother was unlikely to move or reject the new addition.

It worked perfectly and this morning all 12 ducklings  were happily feeding together. I did think of introducing more tonight, but may have to cancel the idea now that we have a white one !!  It looks like I will have to play mum to the remaining hatched ducklings for the next 2 months, some of which have still to appear. Blondie may have been killed last week, but her beauty lives on !!

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.

Popeye Pics

Trust member Mike Greig sent in a couple of nice shots of Popeye just days after his return from the wildlife rehab centre in December. 

Apparently he sent them months ago, but with the wonders of the internet I only received them today. Black and white shot shows the nice contours of the feathers.

Crows Claim First Brood

                               I was too late to save the first brood of ducklings today at the west beach. Yesterday I was told that a duck and 9 ducklings was seen in a garden at the bottom of Seabank road. Today I was informed about a duck with 5 ducklings trying to get past the breakers into the sea, this was almost certainly the same brood. The conditions could not have been worse, with a strong easterly wind and cold temperatures. By the time I walked over with the net, I was just in time to see the last duckling being taken by a crow - it was heartbreaking ! The mother duck stood on the rocks with the sea crashing around her and all her ducklings gone.

River Of No Return

Fascinating action on the river this morning when one of Popeye and Penny's daughters returned to the river with a mate. I suspect they were looking for a nesting site, and where better than the place you were born !

Initially Popeye sat beside Penny at the nest and watched the two approaching the bailey bridge. The new male was reluctant to come any further, but the daughter had no inhibitions and headed up towards the island.

Popeye then decided to act, and proceeded to chase his daughter away.

 However she would not be moved so he then focused his attention on her mate and chased him off. Meanwhile the Daughter swam up to the nest site and Penny's wings went up while sitting on the eggs. The daughter walked up beside the nest and then back down to the river. Popeye returned, and walked up to the nest allowing Penny to get off and into the river to chase the daughter off ! 

 So it seems that Popeye was happy to chase away the incoming male, but Penny was given the job of chasing her daughter away ! Incredibly the daughter is Penny's double and has the same markings along the bill line. 

Maybe Popeye was unable to chase away the daughter because of her likeness to Penny ! It was noticeable that Popeye is still up to the task of heavy duty flying and defensive aggression. For the youngsters, it is still the River of no return, Pics show sequence of events.

Signs Of Life !

After a couple of days in the incubator I again candled the swamped ducks eggs. At least 4 of  the 14 were showing signs of life. They are in the final stages of development, so it is difficult to see exactly what's going on by candling. 

These eggs will have been submerged 2 or 3 times in icy water for a couple of hours at a time, and I will be astonished if they all survive. However I should know within a few days how many we saved in the nick of time.

Meanwhile I will prepare the brooding box with a photo of their Mum, since I am still unable to catch her.

Trust To The Rescue Again.

After the tragic death of Blondie last week, I have been keeping a close eye on her remaining offspring in the hope that they will successfully nest this first season.

 I knew one of her daughters was nesting close to the road bridge, and today I spotted her in a fix as the spring tide flooded her nest. Knowing the tides will be even higher all this week, it is certain that the eggs will be washed away.

 The Trust took action, and this evening Morag our intrepid Trust Secretary donned her wet suit and scrambled down a high embankment to rescue the eggs, incredibly also picking up litter on the way !! 

It transpired that there were 14 eggs, which I duly candled and put in the incubator within 20 minutes of the rescue.

 They are so far advanced I could see nothing during the candling. I only hope the soaking they got today did not kill them all. I should know within a week if we have any survivors. Hopefully Blondie's daughter will have learned not to nest too close the riverside in future.

The Miracle of Eggs

All over the World at this time of year, millions of eggs are being incubated ready for a new generation of birds. Eggs are something we all take for granted, but they are a miracle of evolution. 

They have been so successful for creation, millions of years before humans ever appeared on the planet. Quite a thought ! Completely self contained they possess all the ingredients and DNA outside the parents to become new life. We are privileged to witness something that has successfully happened since the age of the Dinosaurs !

 These are some pics of previous years hatchings, and swans eggs that were abandoned in the harbour back in 2007. 

The tennis ball in the centre was just to show the scale size. 

Blondie Killed

Earlier last week one of our only 2 beautiful light coloured ducks was killed. She was hit by a car on harbour street,  I am told by a witness that a boy racer in a red car just across from the old gas works site was the culprit. She was injured and later pounced on by a group of drakes that she was unable to escape.

 This is tragic since she was the one that produced the white duck last year. 

The complaints by locals about the noise and speed of these racers has been going on for years, but little is ever done to stop them. Maybe time for our River Community Council to recommend some new initiative ?

Spring ?

It looks like it, and today it actually feels like it....has Spring arrived ? 

Warmth in Scotland has been in short supply over the past year as far as I'm concerned, I hope we get Summer this year !  Most birds are now nesting, and insect life is required for survival of the new generations.

Penny is still egg laying but we should see the new brood in about 6 weeks time. Ducklings should be turning up sooner.