As always happens when the duckling season whirls into high gear, I lose track of who’s who. I’m fairly skilled at identifying particular ducks but this brood has me baffled. I’m tentatively identifying them as a new brood, 2012 Brood 9, but I reserve the right to change that.
There 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 and the double stripes on them (left). On May 30th, I identified another duck as being Esther. She only had six ducklings. This might be the same hen. She might have picked up ducklings from another mom, but these all look alike so I doubt it. The jury is still out. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this family before because they are about a month old. It’s possible she walked them to the millpond from another area.
Does it matter? Only to this blog and its author who tends to obsess about foolish things like counting ducklings. Obsess/abscess, the same thing in my case until I solve this important Life mystery. :-)
[...] 05/30/12 :: Six more ducklings appear [possibly the same hen, Brood 6] 06/09/12 :: Everyone Loves a Parade [...]
What a sight for visitors if there are many more parades like these!I don’t remember you posting photos quite like these before. I love the pattern of the “waves” – almost parallel in V formation!
I loved the wake they made, too, Barb. I saw this same brood on Saturday night. They were going through the lily pads and changed their pattern to a single line with mom in the lead. As soon as they got to open water, they reconfigured to swim as shown here. It’s like watching a percision drill team!