Teen Duck Drama

[yourlibrarian]

A few days after seeing the baby ducklings in my last post, we spotted what we thought was their group on the lake during what was a torrential downpour. Turns out it was a second batch of little ducks, these distinctly larger.



There was also drama. A drake wanting to mate with the mother sent her flying away to the middle of the lake from the lake edge where she and the youngsters had been huddling. In the second photo you can see him following her landing while he blocks the ducklings from joining her. She ended up swimming close to a group of other ducks in the area and after a minute or so the drake moved enough that her kids zoomed over to her like they had a motor attached.



We didn't see the drake try a second time but it was raining pretty hard and not that easy to see. But we did see the family group again a few times since.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Big bully!

We once saw a mother mallard take to the air to attack a raptor to protect her brood.

Amazing sight!

[yourlibrarian]

Wow, I imagine so! I've seen a number of attacks by drakes over the years, it's a violent form of mating they have.

[shirebound]

her kids zoomed over to her like they had a motor attached

What a delightful event to witness! Silly drake, he had forgotten about social distancing.

[yourlibrarian]

Seeing those ducklings move through water is an amazing sight, almost like magic.