Ducklings

Ducklings.

One of the things that I've really enjoyed since moving to the apartments are the ducks that live on the lake. Each evening as I take Cooper out for a walk I get to watch the duck families as they paddle across the water. 

I've learned several things about ducks just by watching them. The babies grow very, very quickly. It seems in just a matter of weeks they are almost as big as their mothers. They stay close by her most of the time, unless she is off taking a little rest. Of course, she is always on guard and makes her way back to them quickly. 

I also had noticed that it appeared that the beautiful male mallards had left  for the summer, because all I was seeing were the brown females. After doing a little research I learned that the males lose their beautiful green feathers during the summer months in order to blend in as well. 

Once when we were feeding a duck and her ducklings we observed her running off the other ducks while her babies got their fill. The other ducks seemed to give her a pass when it came to her babies. The only one who didn't seem to care was the hungry fish that made its way up to the surface to get his dinner. 

The other day I was at Half-Price Books, and came across a children's book about ducklings. I couldn't resist because I knew that my grandson would probably enjoy it as well. I learned that duck eggs are often eaten by predators, as well as the ducklings so their chances of survival is limited. I also learned that they are able to fly at around eight weeks. That's probably why we aren't seeing them around the lake any more. In fact, Chuck and I were wondering if maybe they had flown back north for the warmer months?

Either way we sure have enjoyed watching them raise their babies this year.