A Surprise clutch of Ducklings
Posted: 11 June 2014
It was around 20:30 and I spotted something unexpected out on the lake. OK, a mother with a clutch of young ducklings is hardly a rare sight, but it was the first time I had seen such a thing on our lake - and I'd no idea where they had come from.
True, we've seen more ducks on the lake this year than we did last, perhaps because the geese did not seem to patrol the lake in the same way as last year, We even saw a mating "fights" with what seems like a gang of males attempting to drown the female. However, perhaps through ignorance about where to look, I have failed to spot any nest around our grounds, although it is quite likely they are close as there have often been a group of ducks to be seen on the north west corner of the plot to the south.
Naturally, I grabbed the camera and went outside, but with a handheld camera on maximum zoom and it being late in the day it was difficult to get reasonable shots of them.
The mother seemed quite wary and as I would have been appearing to chase them down, she took them round the far side of the island, into the reeds, and eventually ashore on the island where I lost track of them.
