Mallardlings: Fearless

Better in large ("L").

First, the sad news: there are now only 11 ducklings... That is 3 down in 2 days. I suppose they are at their most vulnerable now, so this is when they're most likely to disappear. They're not only tiny but are also very unaware and fearless, which certainly doesn't make them avoid potential trouble (see below).

It was lovely to see them though: I stopped at the pond for half an hour on my way into the centre of town. For 25 minutes they just hid underneath their mother (it was drizzling, and the wind was chilly) and I couldn't tell how many there were as her wings were hiding them and only 3 wriggling tails were visible.

An elderly man wandered over to ask me what I was looking at, so I told him that there had been 14 ducklings on Monday. He mentioned that last year there had been a brood on the same pond "perhaps it is the same mother?"; quite possibly... When I returned to resume crouching near her taking photographs, I noticed that she had rolled over slightly and two of the ducklings were more exposed (*blip*). After a couple of minutes of their fidgeting she stood up and stretched her legs and wings, and all the ducklings scampered out into the drizzle; there were 11 in total, and 7 of them whizzed over and sheltered underneath me! They were too close for my lens to focus and I didn't want to move!! It was amazing: one plucked on my shoelaces... The mother didn't seem overly concerned but stretched and kept her eye on the situation; I remained stock still, and eventually she walked past me and the ducklings moved out from underneath me and followed her into the water. It was exhilarating, but they really need to develop fear if they're to survive being so bite-sized.