I don't mind if they stay as long as they don't harm the ducklings that are soon to hatch at the lake.
Speaking of ducklings, the mom that had ten, then six was seen with only one this morning. And, when I saw her, she was only a couple feet away from a blue heron which had landed nearby with a great egret. I saw the egret strike at something soon after it landed and assumed it was snatching a duckling. But, I think it might have been snatching at a dead fish on the shore before realizing it was dead. It is possible, though, that there is still more than one duckling and that the others have fled into hiding when the heron first arrived. Soon after I spotted her moving away from the heron with her one duckling, she stashed it and flew off. A little while later, I saw neither the mother or the duckling, except when the mother came flying out from deep in a reed bed. Hopefully, she moved her duckling(s) to a safer place.
Also, I spotted Neo's mom, who almost always has ducklings by this time. She looked like she was getting off a nest in her usual living area. But, she doesn't have any ducklings with her right now. She might be running late or might have lost all her ducklings since I last passed by that area about five days ago (yes, she's such a bad mother she can lose an entire brood in a few days). There were some people running a loose dog in the area, so hopefully there wasn't a nest around there or that the nest was destroyed.
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| Neo's mom |
Also, all three of the black Swedish ducks that were dumped at the lake last year are completely missing now. And, Big Bumblefoot, last seen on Monday evening, is also missing. He hung out in the same area that Bitey did. I did find a couple of Pekins hiding in the reeds facing away from the shore far from their usual area, so I'm hoping the Swedish ducks are, also, just hiding somewhere. Cow and a few of the other Pekins were doing their usual thing in their usual spots. The main beach seems really empty without all the ducks there.
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