mallards returned

How wonderful it would be to have your babies back- it certainly sounds like they are very used to human contact. Her interaction with you and the babies could just be that she does have a memory of her time with you when she herself was young. I dont know how good a ducks memory may be- but I gave away a goose who recognised me and my car years later. Every time I drove near the farm she would come running over to the fence. It would be lovely to believe she remembers you and the wonderful care you provided her.

 

I work at a wildlife rehab centre and last year we had an adult female mallard fly in one day, waddle over to a group of orphaned young ones (about 8), and give a few quacks. Within minutes, the group of 8 had assembled behind the female. Another group tried to join them but the female drove them away then proceeded to lead her new family down to the pond. She brought them back to the clinic one more time a day or two later then waddled off and we never saw them again. We expect that she was a former graduate of the program as she was very comfortable around the volunteers and knew exactly where everything was.

 

I'm glad they came back to you!

We have a duckling stealing female at our lake, but she steals ducklings when they're a few days old. I think a lot of times these are females who attempted to brood their own, but failed for some reason. But, they still have the urge (or hormones) to care for ducklings, so they show an interest in others. I've also seen this happen with a killdeer pair who lost their nest. As long as she isn't biting or attacking them, they should be fine, especially since they're older ducklings.