What a lovely end to Easter Sunday we had.  Took 2 of the pugs for a walk and to feed the ducks on the stream which is just round the corner from my cottage.  Unsually the ducks stayed down on the stream banks, and did not react to the bread being thrown, then we noticed that one of the ducks on the bank had her wings spread out sideways,  and we could see lots of movement, then little heads and beaks peeking out.  Stayed watching for  a little while hoping to see a duckling or two, when to our amazement Mummy Duck stood up and waddled to the water edge, followed by a brood of 14 baby ducklings!  They were tiny, very fluffy, and I was terrified when they launched themselves inot the stream after Mum.  Howver, it soon became clear why none of the ducks had paid any attention to the food we brougth, 4 of them were lined up across the stream, obviously to turn back any duckling who got too adventurous and dried to go too far downstream.  We stood watching for about 20 minutes as the adorable little things swam, clambered onto,   rocks and jumped up to catch insects.  The dogs got bored and wanted to go on with their walk, so we had to leave, but it was a completely unexpected and very seasonal easter treat.  Who needs Easter Chicks when you can watch Easter Ducklings!

Awwww, that sounds lovely :)
How cute that there were adult ducks accross the stream making sure all the little babies didn't stray too far :)

sweet tale but please dont feed ducklings bread, at best its bad for them, and at worst its fatal

> sweet tale but please dont feed ducklings bread, at best its bad for them, and at worst its fatal

Ah, good to know - would like to support this little family if possible, so what should we be taking them?  It seems to be quite a village tradition that they get bread, which is why we have been taking crusts and stuff too, but very happy to buy them corn/seeds etc.

We have lots of ducks here as we have 2 rivers in the town. They are pairing up just now and can be seen wandering through the streets stopping the traffic! When they first took up residence folk fed bread but now our local pet shop sells bags of duck food which is a pellet and they are obviously thriving on it. It's lovely watching the ducklings.

Will call at a feed merchants tomorrow and see what they have.  Visited the stream again today, and there are now 19 ducklings!  One of them has already turned bright yellow, the others vary from the tiniest (so presume newest) who are very fluffy and black, through to some with pales stirpes, then yellow breasts, it is like watching a picture develop in front of you!  Watching them today, and considering the increasing numbers, I wondered if ducks operate a sort of communal nursery system?  19 seems an incredible number for 1 duck, so I thought perhaps the one I had assumed was Mother Duck was nominated as Nanny, so to speak, while the other 3 who are acting as a guard in the water are also Mums?

When you go to the feed merchants, dont pick up chick crumbs, they can contain a coccidiostat (a preventative medicine) for poultry.  This can be fatal for ducks as they eat such a lot they would overdose on it.  Best thing to get them is something basic like just plain wheat (its not as if you are growing them on yourself and they will be getting most of their feed from their surroundings), or specific waterfowl crumbs/growers pellets.

Ive had runner ducklings playing in a clean paint roller tray which has a shallow slope into a teeny bit of water in my bath before now lol  If I knew how to put on pictures Ive got some lovely ones of mine.