More ducklings may still be born, but it currently appears this brood is the last of the season at the Brighton millpond. I noticed their mom standing on a slight mound in the marsh at the north end on September 2nd. Her wings were lowered and spread so I knew she was keeping young ones warm in the rain, but they didn’t come out to be counted.
A few nights later, I saw her move through the water with little ones trailing her but it was too dark to count them. She showed up at the southern end of the pond when her kids were almost three weeks old. She’s stayed at the southern end although she’s scuffling with some resident ducks who let her know she’s in their territory. She holds her own in these minor battles.
The four ducklings are an assortment of colors and healthy. She, however, has been disheveled since I first photographed her (below left). I attributed it to the rain then, but now see (below right) she has no time to preen during these early weeks of rearing her brood. Mothering stresses hens. They often molt after the hatch which also taxes her physical resources. Too bad there isn’t a duck spa. She needs the rest and pampering.
[...] the 1-month milestone, the youngest ducks on the pond are growing quickly and enduring the cold, wet weather very well. Their mom remains disheveled and [...]
[...] more time for herself. It shows. Compare her feathers in this photograph with the disheveled ones two weeks ago. Even last week, she looked ragged. She’s preening more now and she is nearing the end of her [...]
[...] looking at a group of five ducks, I realized they were the often mentioned “Last Ducklings of the Season” on this blog, now seven weeks old. In just those four days, the ducklings had grown so their [...]
[...] seen this beauty many times. She’s the blonde starlet born in September. Standing below the boardwalk at the north end of the millpond at night, the beads of water on her [...]
[...] mom is a well seasoned millpond mom and has a stocky build. She’s the mother of 2011′s last brood of the season born on September 1st. That quartet of ducklings were as colorful as this batch. All of them [...]
[...] her that to myself since last autumn because she’s so confident as a mother. Except for her disheveled appearance after her late brood in 2011, she handles mothering with ease. I’ve been photographing her [...]
[...] quickly lost. Perhaps the extremely warm spring changed the entire pattern for hatching. In 2011, the last brood hatched on September [...]
[...] of the extraordinary Buff hen, Confidia. Besides his movie star looks, he’s smart. At only 13 months old, he’s devised his own way to avoid the mad dash for handouts the millpond flock [...]
[...] two weeks later this year and it’s possible the last brood might hatched in September. It happened in 2011. The eight ducklings pictured here were born May 15th. Read more about them later [...]