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Very late hatch yesterday, I saw a mother duck with only one duckling. This is unusual because ducks usually have a much larger brood.
She has likely lost the others to the Crows, two of which are currently stalking this little one. The mother chased them off but they will continue until they get it. It's chances of survival are pretty slim with cold conditions, high river water, plus the predators. It's tough being a duckling !
UPDATE: I can confirm this is the brood from the Rectory. The other 2 ducklings were attacked by a cat on Saturday, killing one and injuring the other. The Mother has wisely decided to bring them to the river now.
New Brood of nine has turned up in the river today. I suspect they are from from the Rectory where there was 11 a week ago.
They are around 3 weeks old. Conditions are not ideal, with the river in spate and cool temperatures.
However they seem healthy and robust, so hopefully some will survive although late in the season.
Today I transferred the rehab duck into the Aviary.
Was planning keeping her indoors for a few days more, but she was determined to keep quacking and flying out of the brooder box and around the room at 6 am - which to me is the middle of the night ! She still has a slight limp which is to be expected at this juncture, so another week in the Aviary is required before release. Her resilience is amazing .
Disco and Limpy were out to see who the new guest was, and Disco made it plain with her squabbles that this was her garden.
Today was the planned visit to Moray Coast Vets to have the duck splints removed. Vet Julie who put on the splints 2 weeks ago was pleasantly surprised to see the duck walking, and removed the splints, it has been a success after only 2 weeks. Well done Julie.
Having filled the bath at home, I was looking forward to letting the duck have a good dip after 2 weeks without.
She was ecstatic to get into the water, and spent an hour splashing, preening and scratching, it was a joy to watch. She scratched her face several times using her newly healed leg, it appears to be functioning perfectly. The plan now is to keep her some time in the Aviary, to ensure fully healed and no big obvious limp that might make her a target on the river. Once that is settled I will return her to the river.
Short movie clip below showing her in the bath scratching her face with the newly healed leg .
Following on the previous posting, thought I would try and capture a few shots of the rewarding and amusing side of bird rehabilitation.
The current duck under Trust care is proving to be a perfect patient, and would melt the heart of anyone.
She is a wild Mallard but able to share a drink with me in the morning !
She will be going to the vet tomorrow for the removal of her leg splints. I am confident she will be walking normally very soon.
Short clip of morning drink with me below.
Got a surprise when I returned from the shops today. A duck recovering from an accident which I have been tending for the past 2 weeks, decided it was fed up being cooped up in the brooder box.
It was getting some attention from me a couple of times day and obviously liked it.
Enough to fly out and sit on my spot waiting on my return .
How could I resist !
Noticed the white Sparrow that I spotted last year is still on the go.
Looks like new plumage too.
Just received the following Photo taken from Facebook this morning.
Apparently mother and ducklings near Millbank . Hope they make it to the River. This is late in the season but not unheard of, I have seen them hatch as late as Halloween !!
Anyone seeing mother and ducklings in the Town should escort them to the River, carefully staying behind them letting mother duck dictate the pace to the water. DO NOT THROW BREAD AT THEM, this will only bring down predatory Crows and Gulls that will kill the ducklings !
With his new plumage and new diet, Duke's health has picked up and looking good.
Some brief sunshine this morning, saw him soaking it up and preening. Short clip below enjoying his dried Mealworm.
Reports earlier last week about Pacific pink salmon invading the Scottish rivers is undoubtedly true.
Earlier this evening while feeding the water birds, some of the ducks jumped out of the water having been disturbed by something underneath them. About 10 feet in front of me I saw the humped back of a Male Pacific Pink salmon protruding from the water. The water at this point was only about a foot deep and I could see the fish quite clearly, it meandered slowly up the river.
How these fish have ended up in Scottish waters is a mystery, but if I saw one there must be an awful lot more around. I have informed the water bailiff. The top photo is from the Spey fisheries board, and is roughly the size of the fish I saw this evening.
This photo I took just as it submerged, so not much to see.
My strategy of keeping a watchful eye on Duke and hoping he will improve without veterinary intervention seems to be working. Although he has taken himself up river twice for 4 or 5 days at a time, he always comes back to rejoin Penny. I noticed the inside of his mouth and tongue seemed particularly white, and looked anaemic. With this in mind I started feeding him dried mealworm and porridge oats, something he now craves !
He has picked up a lot and is much more animated and less lethargic. Mealworm is high in protein and perhaps this has been partly the problem. The river does not provide much in the way of varied greenery and he may have come from an environment with a lot more varied vegetation and protein. Although costly, I will continue with the Mealworm and Porridge diet for a while and see how he does.
Meanwhile Penny has fully moulted and her new plumage is half grown, she is looking good and should be able to fly within 2 weeks - Duke is a week behind her.
Limpy the duckling with the broken leg finally got out of the Aviary to try the pool for the first time. It was joined by Disco the duck with the broken wing, who's offspring were released back to the river on Monday.
I put Disco in with Limpy last night just to see how they would get on. Limpy has been desperate to be with her but I couldn't allow it when Disco's offspring were still here, they would have attacked Limpy because of it's disability.
Last night Disco dominated Limpy to show she was the Mum and the boss. This morning I let them both into the garden, and Limpy followed her new Mum slavishly around the garden.
Later they both had a dip and it was lovely to see them happy together. I am hoping Limpy is a Male and could be Disco's partner for life.
This would be a match made in heaven, one with a broken wing and the other with a fixed broken leg. Limpy has a deformed foot and both could never survive in the wild.
The injured duck that had part of it's bill removed on Monday was today put to sleep at Moray Coast Vets.
I took it in this morning and was expecting to have the lower mandible trimmed back to equal the upper part.
I later received a call telling me that another injury had been discovered which was infested with maggots, and that they thought it was best to Euthanise the duck. Once again the experts got their way.
The injured duck I spotted on Saturday is now in care with the Trust. I managed to catch her this morning which was not too difficult because she is moulting and unable to fly.
Her bill has been badly damaged and part of it was removed at the vets this morning.
She will return to the vet on Wednesday to assess whether some of the lower Mandible needs removed as well.
Meanwhile I will give her antibiotics and painkiller twice a day, as well as anti bacterial cream on her flesh wound. I really hope I can save this bird as we have lost at least 4 female ducks in the past week ! August is the worst month, as many of the females are moulting and easy prey for predators.
After 9 weeks care in the comfort of the Trust , the 6 ducklings hatched by the duck with the broken dislocated wing have been released into the river. The mother would not survive in the wild, so will remain with the Trust for life. She has done a fabulous job rearing them over the past 9 weeks and they can now fly and take care of themselves.
They have been exposed to all kinds of dangers in the open garden for the past few weeks, and know what to do when danger threatens. Short clip below of the fun and antics they have had in recent times. The mother is the one with the wing tip pointing skywards !
For the past month there has been a huge tree root sitting close to the moat entrance, this threatened to block the moat during the next big spate. It has been on my mind for weeks, and I have been waiting for a spring tide to move it away from the area. I purchased a 50 metre rope with the idea of tying it to the root and the Merryton bridge so as to allow the rising tide to swing it away from the moat channel. However it became obvious that it needed a push as well. This week has a spring tide and I am now feeling my age, so needed an action man to give us a hand. My first thought was to contact local supporter and tradesman Gary Reid who tackled the same problem for us 5 years ago, by moving a massive tree root from the moat all by himself. Gary is a star, and was quick to offer his services by donning his wet suit and wading into the river during the dark, hitching a rope onto it and tying it to the Merryton bridge supports. High tide was at midnight but Gary rocked that root around until it was shifted into the main river channel before 11pm tonight. Gary has been a real local hero to the Trust, and avoided the Trust having to get a local contractor with all the red tape that would have involved. The Trust is very grateful to our local hero, Thank you Gary.
It has been a bad week on the river with several ducks killed and Duke still not a happy boy.
The biggest shock came yesterday when I discovered the severed head of the feisty little duckling that I had so carefully nurtured back to good health after the Black back attack a few weeks ago. It lasted another 18 days and was growing well. The black backed gull again attacked and killed not only the duckling but an adult female duck as well, most likely it's mother, for I found both just 2 feet apart.
Several days before, I discovered another carcase of a female duck - again almost picked clean. It's pretty upsetting when you care for wildlife that then gets killed when you know their desire to live is so strong.
I have delayed the release of the 6 ducklings I have at home, for fear of the black back killing them, they wont have their Mother with them for guidance. The Great Black back is feeding it's young and is killing ducks virtually everyday. The ducks are moulting and the ducklings also cant fly at this time, it has been carnage this week.
Today I discovered another badly injured duck at the swans Island and may have to catch it for treatment. In addition, Duke is still not well although still eating but very lethargic and listless. I may have to get the SPCA to take him away again, but I think there's a limit to how often they will do this. Weather has also been poor, bad week indeed !
