Tuesday 13 May 2014

Ducklings

It takes a brave mother to raise ducklings on the Ock and this mallard has six:
.
.
The risks for such small birds on the Ock are huge - the may be eaten by herons, otters and mink - whilst there are no obvious signs of mink, they are the most likely explanation for the recent decline in water voles. 
If that wasn't enough, overly defensive moorhens will attack and kill them as will other ducks if they get too close.
.
.
So the probability of any of them surviving a few days is remote, let alone making it to adulthood.

2 comments:

  1. Martin Gulliver13 May 2014 at 23:44

    Well that made my morning - such cheery news! Nature in the raw I guess...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indeed, the natural world is not always cute and fluffy.
    And it make things worse, I haven't seen the ducklings on my recent visits to the river....

    ReplyDelete