They are everywhere!

A few days ago, we were surprised again by our second duck family. This time there were only three ducklings, but their dad is older (his colors are mature) and both parents appear to be much more experienced than the first pair.

All of this sharing of the pond is cute during the day, but last night, about 1AM, first mom came wandering to the pond with her four, which upset the trips' mom, of course, and...well, you can imagine the noise and splashing that ensued!!

Then, this morning, I hear babies cheeping and thought it was the trips, but it was the older babies crying. It bothers me a lot because mom and dad, both, had deserted them...again... but we know we mustn't interfere. I tell everyone, myself included, ...'we don't want pet ducks, we don't want pet ducks'.


In reality, the remaining four of them are old enough to huddle together for safety and they dive for the water when they are scared, so I'm not real worried about them as long as they stay closeby.

It's not unusual, but I still find it giggly that ALL the ducklings have connected the opening of the patio door with being fed, so they look like jet boats on a mission whenever the door rattles!

Some days I'm glad that they only take 3 months or so to learn to fly and head out on their own...and some days I feel sad about it.

^^^^^^^^^^NOTE^^^^^^^^^^

The morning after posting this entry, I awakened to find family #3 huddling on the side of the pond. This time mom brought 10 little peepers!

^^^^^^^^ANOTHER NOTE^^^^^^^^^

Then on September 19, another mum with three ducklings showed up, and on September 20, a mom with 9 or 10 came to the pond, but got sidetracked in the drainage ditch.

I really don't think this is the end, either!!