Proud Mum

I bet not many of you blippers out there can claim to have a young family of 11. This Mallard has. We counted every one of them, so unless there are some adopted ducklings in there, eleven it is.

She was very caring too, while the lay on the banks of the lake sunning himself, she shepherded her brood around the margins, not letting the leading duckling go to far ahead of the trailing one. I think they will all be fairly safe in the water, it's when they come out they could be in trouble from the foxes.

Brilliant sunshine here today, the sudden yet expected showers of yesterday already a distant memory. Emma and I had a slightly wheezy nature walk. I thought the ducks would be her highlight but she said her best bit was the adventure playground followed by finding the big leaf (they were sweet chestnut trees).