Diminishing returns for mother duck as offspring dwindle

NATURE can be cruel, red in tooth and claw. Only, it’s a lot easier to say this kind of thing with a knowing nod, than actually witnessing it.

And I got to see just how cruel the other day when a happy family of ducks wandered up my garden.

I have written recently about the surprise arrival of a pair of wild mallard ducks on my lawn a month ago and how I was bowled over to spot the female under the apple tree last week with four tiny ducklings in tow.

I also mentioned how I saw a fox loping along the edge of a nearby field later that day and feared the worst.

So I was relieved when the duck revisited a couple of days later and still had four young with her.

Ducklings seem particularly illsuited to survival, being unable to fly, or run particularly fast. Their best hope of growing large enough to look after themselves seems to depend on them hugging the margins of streams, ponds and lakes where they are out of view or out of reach of landbased predators, lying low and relying on their camouflage plumage or hoping mother duck chases off any unwelcome visitors.

On this particular visit the troupe of feather puffballs traipsed to the pond, except that curiosity got the better of one which dallied at the stream edge. How cute we thought. Then down came a crow and carried it off.

Quite a shocking sight.

Mallard lay a clutch of at least a dozen. This female was already down to three – and once predators are wise they come back for more. Yesterday the duck returned, only with no young at all.

Fortunately, I do happen to know that one duckling was saved from a cat down in the valley and has gone to a good home. Unknown to the duck she had some return on her investment of time and energy after all.