Muscovy Ducklings' Expedition

On a brighter note from the sad news of the poorly gosling, the muscovy ducklings at Newhouse Farm are doing brilliantly. These ducklings share the same birthday as me, and are clearly being raised with great success by their mother, Mindy. They've grown rapidly over the past few weeks, turning from tiny balls of fluff that could fit in the palm of my hand into tubby energetic bundles that remind me a little of the goslings when they were younger. The ducklings' mischievous antics appear to be giving their mother the run around, as they seem to like nothing better than exploring in places they oughtened to be. This is often the far bank of the stream that borders on the neighbour's garden, or beyond a wooden grill that marks the entrance of the stream into the duck and goose enclosure. The stream beyond the wooden grill has been allowed to become overgrown, to act as a wildlife corridor within the farm. Mindy can't fit through the wooden grill in pursuit of her youngsters, and I've often seen her waiting anxiously beside it as the ducklings explore the mysterious depths of the wilderness stream without her, like miniature Indiana Joneses.

Like a true English summer the weather at the farm during July has mostly been heavy rain and grey skies, but although we've been feeling gloomy that the summer has disappeared this certainly hasn't dampened the spirits of the ducklings. Today they've been entertaining me as they splash around in the stream, on the right side of the wooden grill for once. They started diving below the surface of the stream, swimming swiftly underwater until they bobbed to the surface once more. This may be one of the first times they've tried diving, as one of the ducklings seemed to be so over excited by it that it did a somersault in the water. Once diving practice was over all the ducklings suddenly charged up stream, churning up the water behind them, only to do an about-turn and come charging back again.

James was stood next to me as we watched the duckling's amusing behaviour. He said that they reminded him of being a kid playing in the bath, and I laughed in acknowledgement. Mindy seemed to be exasperated by their behaviour, hopping off the bank and hurrying after them, as if to say "Now, now children, bath time is over, time to get out and dry yourselves". Eventually Mindy had her way, the ducklings stopped splashing around in the stream, and climbed out onto the bank to preen their feathers. Then they all set off in a line towards their duck house, a couple of the ducklings leading the way. "Where are they going?" James asked. "Looks like it's nap time!" I replied. And nap time it seemed to be, as all the ducklings climbed into their house to have a midday rest, whilst James and I returned to our work.

Later on in the day I returned to the duck and goose enclosure during a brief spell of sunshine to try and snap a few photos of the ducklings. I found them back in the stream, clearly refreshed after their nap. They were bobbing around, flapping their webbed feet rapidly to stir up the silt from the stream bed. They seem to all be very fond of this activity, and I'm assuming that this is a method they've developed for trying to catch bugs and worms that live in the silt at the bottom of the stream. The intrusion of my camera disturbed them from their activities for a while, until they started flapping their feet again and stirring up the silt. Eventually the Indian Runner ducks, now fully grown and very bolshie, turned up to spoil the ducklings fun. The ducklings have learnt to keep away from the Indian Runner ducks who, like the playground bully, like nothing more than throwing their weight around to show who's boss. Instead the ducklings sedately swam through the wooden grill and headed towards the darkness of the forbidden wildlife stream... time for another duckling expedition, no matter how many times Mindy quacked in protest. Poor Mindy, it must be tough being mother to seven naughty ducklings!

I'll keep you posted on the ducklings as they continue to grow.