Duck & ducklings in our pond!

We have once more wild ducks & ducklings in our pond!!

There are a lot of wild ducks here, always from Spring till Autumn.
During the colder months, they fly south.

Every year a few couples try to have a nest in our garden.
This time one duck mom made a nest under a bush, and after laying 13 eggs, she sat on her eggs until they all hatched (sp ??)
Their first "steps" into the world go to our pond (of course !!)
One didn't have enough strength to jump on the rocks and get out of the pond; as the mom left with her crew and left the little one behind, Bernard went outside, grabbed the baby duck, and put it down closer to the mom.
Today, they all came back to swim around. It is so special to look at them from behind the windows!
I even made several pictures of them. I will try to post them here, but as I don't understand how to do that, I will use attachments.
Please click and look, the ducks family is so lovely!!

few more pics!!

last 4 pics

ps. Oh my, I made this topic in "Cat General" instead of "General" ...... .

It's okay, Lut, I moved it into General for you!
How interesting that some of the ducklings are yellow and some brown - is it the gender difference?

Oh, aren't they pretty! And what a lot of them!

Good question: why are some yellow and some brown?

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

Oh my gosh, so cute! Thanks for sharing your ducklings Lut!:)

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Originally Posted by phesina

Oh, aren't they pretty! And what a lot of them!

Good question: why are some yellow and some brown?

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

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Some birds are "sex-linked" - the males and females have different coloration as baby chicks!

What gorgeous babies! And doesn't mother duck look proud when she is walking on land! :)

Did you say she had 13 babies? WOW!

They are so cute, thanks for sharing! :love:

What a cute duck family. Mom has a lot of ducklings to care for. :)

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Originally Posted by Karen

It's okay, Lut, I moved it into General for you!
How interesting that some of the ducklings are yellow and some brown - is it the gender difference?

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Thanks Karen!
The color of the ducklings is either yellow or brown, but this has nothing to do with their gender. Yellow ones turn white as they grow up, and the brown ones stay brown.
Bad news though today....! Yesterday mom duck was walking on the lawn with her 10 kids (13 eggs, but only 10 hatched). Suddenly she was scared to death by Zazou and Maya. She hurried older the bushes and found a hole to the backyard of our neighbors, together with the little ones.
We don't know what happened, but this morning she was back on the pond, together with only ............ 2 ducklings.....:eek::(
Poor mom..... . Lets hope she can keep these 2 !!
We think that some large birds and rats got the other 8 ...! Well, that's nature hey, nature can be very cruel....

They are so adorable.

Beautiful family. Thank you for sharing the photos.

Do the kitties ever try to catch them? Kuhio brought home a baby goose one time. It was almost as big as her! She had a very hard time getting it through the kitty door and was most displeased when we took it away from her.

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Originally Posted by kuhio98

Beautiful family. Thank you for sharing the photos.

Do the kitties ever try to catch them? Kuhio brought home a baby goose one time. It was almost as big as her! She had a very hard time getting it through the kitty door and was most displeased when we took it away from her.

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Zazou & Maya both tried to catch one of the ducklings. Maya didn't dare trying that once more, because mom duck was so angry that first time, as she picked on Maya for her trying to catch one of her babies...! Zazou also tried. She was hiding behind a bush where she knew the ducks family would pass by. When they finally moved her way, she jumped onto the group of ducklings, who scattered in all directions...! When next day Zazou was waiting there again, mom duck left our garden with her kids...

Bad news again: mom duck has lost all ducklings; she was swimming on the pond today, looking everywhere in search for them....:(

Aww, how sad! Duckling are so fragile, and prey for so many animals. Our condolences, Mama duck!

I was afraid something horrible would happen to them. Nature is so very cruel. RIP, beautiful little babies. I am so sorry. :(

Yeah..... it is really cruel...:( !!

The mum duck will make a new nest now. Let's hope she will have more luck then!

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Maybe momma duck will find another pond without cats around to hassle her and her babies. I hope she does.

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Originally Posted by lizbud

Maybe momma duck will find another pond without cats around to hassle her and her babies. I hope she does.

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I hope so too, but in fact I am almost sure that she will use the very same nest....! Wild ducks "remember" the location where they were born.
That's why we get more and more ducks who try to make a nest in our garden! All the ones who hatched and grew up at our place, return the next year to make a nest too!!
From the moment that they return in spring, we have ducks in our pond all the time; we always go outside then to chase them away. But as the bushes have leaves now, it is easier for them to make a nest without us knowing they are there....!
Don't take us wrong, we have nothing against ducks or any other animal. But the negative thing with "ducks with ducklings", is that they drop lots of "poop" in the pond, which ruins the quality of the water completely; last time we had a nest, the pond got in such bad state, that we had tremendous trouble to bring it back to normal!! We even had to renew the water almost completely :eek: !

I was so sad when I read that all the ducklings were gone---the pictures were just so lovely, I thought you would have company in your pond for most of the summer.