Couldn’t duck a chance to help...
I AM not the type of person who becomes a hero. I would rather leg it and live to fight another day, but sometimes you are just put in a position you cannot avoid.
I was out and about on my 30 Days Wild challenge to visit 37 nature reserves in 30 days when I came to a reservoir deep in the Pennine hills.
There is a nature reserve around the water but, on a day which had been dull and damp, there wasn’t much wildlife. I managed to spot a couple of butterflies when I heard a ruckus.
On one side of the water there is a stone slope and a small, kerb-like wall, about a foot high, and then grass on the other side. A mother mallard had reached the wall, hopped over it and left her seven ducklings behind.
As I got a bit closer, I could see the tiny quackers trying to leap up on to the wall but tumbling back down. Mum was standing at the top of the wall shouting encouragement and warning me off.
I gave them a wide berth and found a good stone which I placed close by. These ducklings were smart and made for the stone.
First of all they struggled, then one and two leapt on to the wall and joined mum.
The rest were just too excited to get over.
So I closed in and, avoiding mum’s beak, held my hand under three of the ducklings, they successfully got on to the wall and ran off down to the water.
Two others had fled, so I herded them back to the stone and helped the first one over. The other was causing a real racket but finally realised I was there to help.
Mum and the other ducklings were now in the water, understanding that I was helping them. When the final peeper arrived, they sailed off together. One or two of the small ones were clinging on to the mother.
A fisherman shouted: “Did you get them all over?” I nodded manfully. Fortunately, thanks to the power of Facebook, he wasn’t the only witness. I presume he went home that night and told his wife: “You know I may give up fishing and go into the superhero game after what I saw today!”
Mallards are our most familiar dabbling ducks. They are found right across Europe, Asia and North America.
They are a common sight at your local park or pond and are often very tame, being fed by the public regularly. This lot were a bit wilder – feral ducklings shall we call them.
While female mallards are brown and mottled, males show off a shiny green head, maroon-brown chest, yellow bill and curly black feathers just above the tail.
The little ones have gone from yellow to brown and keep this plumage until they are older.
I felt as though I had done my bit for wildlife, though it was unexpected. We have been asked to do Random Acts of Wildness over 30 Days Wild, and this was pretty random.
You can watch the whole adventure unfold on our Lancashire Wildlife Trust Facebook page.
The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 local nature reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The trust has 27,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers.
To become a member of the trust, go to the website www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust, call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.