Anxious Parents

Yesterday, mid afternoon  I was on my knees weeding the front garden near the pond in the lovely sunshine. The Wood duck pair which have been visiting the pond all winter, came timidly walking at the back of the pond. When I straitened up I suddenly saw they had their little family with them. This is so pleasing as we had only seen the male duck these last few weeks ( actually they are Maned geese and have much smaller and pointier beaks than normal ducks). We had wondered about its mate and here she was with 4 little ducklings.

This in itself is odd as very often they have 10 or 12 ducklings in tow.

I wondered how they might survive the night as there are feral cats and foxes around. So it was a great pleasure to see them this morning having a little swim and warming their little feet on the slate. Dad is very attentive and chases any other duck of the same clan away with wings spread and hissing loudly. They have been around all day grazing on the freshly cut grass so I hope they will survive to adulthood.

Remember to click on the photos to get a clearer picture.