Like humans, some millpond ducks have excellent parenting skills while others don’t seem to grasp the concepts at all. This lovely mallard is always alert to dangers as you can see by her erect posture (left) and diligently keeps her brood of six ducklings (below) in close proximity. That’s why she hasn’t lost any of them in the past few weeks. She’s as skilled as the unnamed buff-colored hen from last year who raised nine ducklings to adulthood through strict military-like discipline.
This hen is named Esther. After telling a delightful visitor from Clinton Township about her rigorous parenting style, she suggested Esther would be a proper name for her because Ester was a strong woman in the Bible. So Esther it is. I’ll tell you more about this duck and her family’s summer activities in a future post. If you are coming to the millpond, you can recognize her by the eye stripe and rust-colored tint of her cheeks or just count the number of ducklings around the hens. Currently, she’s the only one with six near Main Street, but they are growing so quickly you might think they are adults if you don’t visit soon.
Soon they’ll be off to college.
And she’ll be an empty nester. :-)
[...] Ester, SweetPea (aka HussyHen) is a clueless mother. Her nesting and parenting skills are almost [...]
[...] Eight survived to adulthood and are now vacationing down south. In the background, Esther, the Hen of the Year, stands guard as her six ducklings rest. All survived and probably migrated. Perhaps this spring [...]
[...] veteran and just might be Esther, the duck I named “Hen of the Year” in 2011. Her peach-colored cheeks look [...]
[...] are nine ducklings and mom looks like the 2011 Hen of the Year, a duck named Esther who skillfully raised six last summer. Note her peach-colored cheeks the [...]
[...] cheeks, bill pattern, and double facial stripes with Esther, the millpond’s “2011 Hen of the Year,” and mother of nine ducklings in 2012 (Brood 9). I think they are the same bird but [...]