RIP Mama duck and ducklings

This morning, I heard the crows mobbing something near the canal where both Butterscotch and the mother pictured in the photo above were staying.  The mother in the photo was staying in a canal that was above where the lake road was.  Butterscotch was staying in a reed bed below the canal, a third duck was sitting on a nest, and I think Fish Food Mama was seen not too far from there recently.  When I got near that area, I found blood and female duck feathers that looked like they came from the mother in the photo above.

At first, I thought the duck was caught near where Butterscotch was, but when I remembered where the crows were mobbing from, I think it was the mom in the photo above that was caught and carried down to the lake road.  This was the mother, I think, who had the ducklings last year and brought them to the canal after the gulls got most of them and raised them there.  She has stayed in the canal ever since, but not in the area where I usually walk.

I suspect that the ducklings were also caught and eaten as I heard no sign of any ducklings in distress.  I'm sure she died defending them.   I doubt she still had the six, more likely she had two or three left.  They would be just over two weeks old. Or, it might have been a totally different duck with no ducklings whom I don't know.  But, some of the feather patterns look like they came from the mother duck pictured above.

I don't think I saw any ducklings today, except, perhaps, Butterscotch's ducklings who are nearly old enough to be on their own.  I didn't see any sign of Butterscotch, but her males weren't too far away from the ducklings, so she might be there.  I will let everyone know if I see this mama duck and her ducklings again.

I saw Squeak and Pollux with another killdeer whom upset Squeak a lot.

Pollux seemed very excited and did a big nest scrape:

Squeak came over to approve it.  The third killdeer ran off and disappeared.

"That's nice, dear" Squeak says

I thought I saw Pepper chasing after the girl ducks.  I hadn't seen Pepper in a while and was happy to see him.  But, it was not Pepper, but Cinnamon's boyfriend, the one I call "Mr. Rapist", but not aloud.  I think Cinnamon's "boy band" has broken up.  I haven't seen Big Daddy, lately.

Unfortunately, I think Cinnamon's Twin's Twin is deceased.  I saw her boyfriend and "Spot" the Welsh Harlequin without her.  They seemed very sad.  And, another Pekin is gone, too, so there's now 12 there.  I am still hoping to see Big Daddy again as I think he went off on his own somewhere and will show up again.   Oreo is still alive and well.

Louie just loves Jill.  I wonder if they're mating now.

I think the male on the left might be one of Snowie's sons from last year.  The other wasn't too far away.  She seems to not mind this other male at all and the Dad tolerates him well, too.  Mom is very picky and just doesn't accept every duck to be near her.  She's been with the male on the right for years.