Mama?

Spring has finally arrived in our village in the shape of the most gorgeous ducklings!

One poor frazzled mama duck, with a brood of fourteen, was having a devil of a time keeping her family in a row when we wandered down to the river this afternoon. The little downy ducklings grouped, scattered and regrouped faster than she could quack and finally she just gave up and settled down in the sun on the river bank.

There were, quite literally, ducklings everywhere. Some kind people herded them off the road, others chased off the nasty seagulls, and Thomas provided a comfy shoe on which to sit!

At one point six brave ducklings plopped off the bank, into the river, and began paddling upstream for all they were worth. By accident, or perhaps design, mama decided it was time to paddle off in the opposite direction with the other eight. This prompted my two to launch a full scale search and rescue operation and proceeded into the river after the escapees. Each little duck was scooped up and placed carefully into my basket.

Once we had them all, we transported the noisy brood back downstream to their mother who, thank goodness, had had a change of heart and welcomed them back loudly!