Yesterday evening Lonely appeared with 10 ducklings. They are the first I have seen this year so it was exciting and I'm looking forward to when Flare Tail's ducklings hatch which should be in a few days.
Lonely's clutch of ten
Lonely appeared when the light was low so it was impossible to get a better image of her newly hatched brood. She is a nervous duck too, especially with her 'babies' in tow, so she turned tail as soon as I went out with the camera to grab a photo.
This morning she arrived with only eight ducklings and by 10.00am she was down to seven. I wonder how many she'll have by this evening!
The attrition rate is always high at this time of year but although I know this I am always sad at at the loss of so many new lives. The reality is, of course, that there would be far too many ducks on the river if most of the ducklings survived.
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