23 ducklings in one clutch?!

[Miss Lydia]

That’s good to hear. Good to hear mom went down with him. Maybe now she’ll watch over him better.

 

[chris330r]

That’s good to hear. Good to hear mom went down with him. Maybe now she’ll watch over him better.

She is! Look at the sight I was just greeted to when I stepped outside. I tried to be real quiet to get the pic but Mama's eyes opened accusingly just as I snapped it. So adorable. Guess they were waiting for their lunch which they both got.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So good to see them together.

 

[chris330r]

Duckling came back this morning but never made it up to the patio for his food. A crow began chasing him up and down the shore until he scurried into the water to get away from it. I couldn't tell if it was just being playful or if it was something more sinister. I doubt the crow would see him as breakfast so I think it was just being mischievous.

I've seen crows nip at the ducks tails, run away, then nip it again over and over until the duck is so annoyed that they leave the seeds so they can have it for themselves lol. They're comical little birds.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Poor baby has to put up with so much in it's young life.
I hope it gets to have some good food today. Where was mama?

 

[chris330r]

Poor baby has to put up with so much in it's young life.
I hope it gets to have some good food today. Where was mama?

Mama is still with him (i'm pretty sure it's a male at this point) but he's understandably a nervous little guy so as soon as he finishes eating under the window he waddles straight down for the water with the crows following and nipping at him lol. I'm pretty sure they're doing it playfully and not sinister. He then ducks completely under the water to swim away.

Mama takes her sweet time eating while baby waits for her in the safety of the water. Afterwards she slowly waddles down to him and they swim off together. Grandma would never be this lax with her kids, but thankfully baby has learned quickly to take care of himself. I've seen him nip at Grandma's kids who tower over him.

Each day he looks slightly bigger so fingers crossed he makes it to adulthood.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully this mama will do better next year. Do you think this was her first hatch?

 

[chris330r]

Hopefully this mama will do better next year. Do you think this was her first hatch?

I believe she's from Grandma's clutch of either last year or 2021 but i've never seen her with ducklings before so it's quite possible this is her first hatch.

I remember when she was a baby. She was the only one of the brood who would fly into the water after the bread when I threw it over their heads. The others would just stand there dumbfounded but she'd fly and dive so fast after that flying bread making a huge sloppy splash into the water that looked so comical...so I would always throw it over her head just to watch her dive after it.

I walked by the park earlier today and saw her over there with her duckling scavenging in the mud for morsels. Since the pond has drained around the edges, I believe there's lots of goodies to eat up along the shore now because it's attracting a bunch of wildlife pecking along the edges.

 

[chris330r]

Duckling was waiting for breakfast this morning without Mama. She was off bathing at the other end of the pond basking in luxury while her poor baby fends for himself. Such a self centered duck lol. Shame on her.

Grandma's kids try to bully duckling but he nips at them and fights right back. Right after this pic was taken the duckling scared the crap out of Grandma's kid and she ran away in terror when he nipped back at her.

It was a nice quiet morning until the eagles came....yes TWO of them!! Pics in next post.

 

[chris330r]

A few minutes after eating all of a sudden all the wildlife scattered away from the patio....the crows, ibises and wood storks flew so quickly away as if they were startled by something. Even my parrot screamed and flew into the house.

Then I saw two big eagles circling above. All the ducks were already in the middle of the pond huddled together and then both eagles dove down for the duckling but he quickly ducked under the water multiple times to safety.

The ducks went far away so I couldn't tell where baby was and hoping he was in the middle of them and safe because those eagles kept diving for him. I felt so helpless and all I could do was go out and wave my long yellow broom at the sky but it did nothing to deter them.

After a few minutes both eagles flew away but the group was too far for me to tell where duckling was so now i'm going to wonder all day if he made it.

In the first pic, the eagle is making his terrifying dive into the group.

Zooming in on the second pic, i'm pretty sure that's duckling next to Mama by his tiny little wings flapping in the water and you can see the eagle to the left hovering above. I kept seeing him duck under the water until I lost sight of him so I think he evaded them.

When the eagles flew off I didn't see anything in their claws. What a stressful life these poor things must live with danger lurking at every turn.