nature, Photography

It’s Duckling Time!

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I’ve been very fortunate to see so many ducklings over the last few days. Adorably tiny feather balls, they are some of the cutest little ones ever.

Dad was bringing up the rear, but I didn’t include him in the photo. They were moving quickly and I wanted to get a picture.

On my return trip, I saw that mom was teaching them how to forage in the long grass next to the shoreline. Not only good pickings there but good protection, too.

I don’t know how many will survive as lots of predators see them as an excellent snack, but this mom is doing her best to keep them safe.

Happy Sunday.

37 thoughts on “It’s Duckling Time!”

  2. It’s sad that they won’t all make it but I guess that’s why they have to have that many. They sure are cute little balls of fluff. But just think of the programming in them, to be able to swim and forage and instinctively do what their mother shows them.

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    1. Yes, there are so many predators waiting for the chicks. This mom had them in the long grass quite a bit which is protective but a determined and hungry predator, well, that’s nature, isn’t it? I’m amazed too at the instinctive, built-in abilities, especially how nimble they are even when very little.

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  3. These little ducklings stay cuter much longer than the goslings do. We saw the new babies in Vancouver at the end of April and were seeing similar stages here near the end of May. The ducklings are still cute, but now the geese are managing huge crèches of up to 40 goslings while the other parents go of to feed. Yay, more goose poop on the paths. Happy Sunday Lynette. Allan

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    1. Thanks, Allan. I agree. About a month ago I saw a huge number of Canada geese goslings – also about 40 or so – and probably about 2/3 the size of the parents but still with their downy feathers and clearly unable to fly yet. This was outside the city at one of the smaller lakes. It seems the Canada geese keep their little ones in less busy areas until they’re older but agreed, the amount of poop around that lake was, well, watch your step! They certainly know how to share responsibilities and maybe that partly explains why they can be so grumpy!

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    1. Thank you, Neil. Much appreciated. I was actually thinking of the survival rate of just the chicks. Apparently in the wild only 30-50% of them reach the ability to fly. But these are part of a resident flock that are basically community pets – the city even puts feed out for them if it gets too cold – so the survival rates for both adults and chicks is probably higher. Cheers.

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    1. Thank you very much, Belinda. I’m always so charmed by them. About 30-50% make it to the flying stage in the wild, but these ducks are pretty much community “pets” and the adults and chicks probably have something of a higher rate since there just aren’t as many predators about.

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