Words4It

May 23: As temperatures plunged, the count of ignored ducklings increased to four with the addition of another newborn, the same size and probably from the same brood as the one that joined the older chicks the day before.

One of them got caught in a cement crack for a moment (above) but wiggled his way out in short order. You can see by these pictures how quickly ducks grow. The older ones are twice as big in just seven days. I still haven’t found the brood providing these ducklings so they aren’t included in the Fertility Tournament count. The hen wasn’t seen with the ducklings from this day on.

Temperatures plunged to just above freezing here. Hypothermia is a major killer of ducklings during their first weeks of life. While I think it’s almost always best to let Nature carry on without human interference, if I had the proper equipment to catch these little guys, I would have taken them home until nighttime temperatures returned to normal. (It would be an act of civil disobedience. It’s against Federal and state laws to raise wildlife without a license.)

May 24: This tale doesn’t end well. The next night, only the two older ducklings were found. It’s possible the younger birds found refuge with their mother or a generous hen, but it’s likely they died from freezing temperatures. I might find the brood from which they wandered but their fate will remain a mystery.

May 22: While none of the ducks or geese made efforts to adopt the wayward trio, the birds treated them well. Geese usually let ducks know they aren’t welcome if the quantity of food is scarce with a quick nip. Ducks normally keep a neck length away so they don’t get bit. As you can see here, the goose was more tolerant with a duckling as they ate. It’s not unusual to see Mallard drakes nip at tiny ducklings when they compete for food but none chased these unguarded chicks away that night.

May 20: By the time the ducklings were 4 days old, their mom lost interest in them. They were both active explorers so they had a good time. Often, they were seen right at the edge of the dam where the water tumbles over the rocks. There are some eddies there that swirl morsels they liked to eat.

Park visitors would anxiously watch as they pressed their luck swimming where they could easily be swept away by the rushing water. They’d always propel themselves to calmer water just in the nick of time. I heard a story that one went over the crest and a visitor climbed down the boulders and rescue it. The danger of the falls posed to her newborns didn’t seem to bother the hen. Can you find the chick in the photo at left? Click it to see more detail.

May 17: The Brood3 hen was an attentive mother. She kept the day-old chicks by her side as they swam around the pond near Main Street. The weather was good, the ducklings seemed content as mom took them to locations where they could find tiny floating bits to eat.

Even young ducklings can take care of themselves if kept warm at night in places where they are protected from predatory fish, mammals and birds. They are always on the move and quick to flee when any danger is perceived. How their little feet can power them across the pond at lightning speed is really amazing. They can’t sustain that speed for long, but they can propel themselves like fuzzy rockets for short distances.

Both of the Brood3 ducklings were very active and curious about everything they encountered in the water. At night, mom tucked them under her wings on the embankment near the dam. A drake hovered nearby and often swam with the family. He might have been the bonded partner of the hen and the father of the ducklings, but he could have developed an interest in the female after she arrived with the kids. Males don’t always stick around while the hens sit on their nests.

Just try and count a hoard of tiny balls of fluff after the sun sets. The grainy picture above of Brood7 confirms this Mallard hen has a troupe of 14, the largest brood so far in this year’s competition. This just might be the Marlboro Mallard. Their faces look similar. The only time I counted her eggs she only had 12 but it might be her. I would have suspected she’d be at the other end of the pond. It’s closer to her nest. When the light is better, I might be able to identify her better.

I’ve included a detail photo from the one at right so you can see some ducklings up close. They sure are cute. I had read online ducklings can’t eat duck chow for the first couple of weeks. The pieces are too big for them. Joyce and Robert from Wildernest have been saving up the “dust” from their duck chow shipments for three months so I could give it to the little guys. I tried it for the first time with this brood. All they did was sit on it while their mom ate the larger pellets. Another lie on the Internet. Imagine that. Can you find all 14 ducklings in the picture (above right)? They’re all there. It took me a while to spot one of them. Give it a try.

Posts including this brood:

05/20/13 :: New frontrunner in Fertility Tournament!

When I discovered Brood6 at the north end of the pond last evening, she was giving the Canada geese a quack lashing because they were too close to her newly born ducklings (above). Once she recognized me, she brought the kids to meet me. We’re old friends and she’s ahead of schedule by two days. Last year, she hatched Brood5 on May 22nd. There were ten in that brood but only nine in this year’s.

She discovered her brood liked the duck chow so she consistently brought them right up to my feet so I’d feed them. I’m sure she’ll do that again with this brigade. The grass is covered with willow catkins and the duckling were picking through it. I don’t know if they eat the seeds or are finding things to eat under them. They are too young to swallow duck chow pellets.

Posts including this brood:

05/20/13 :: A noisy introduction to Brood6