Storybook finish to this grate escape
Birders make way to save ducklings in storm drain
A quick-thinking bunch of big-hearted birders used a Red Sox hat to pluck four baby ducks from a broken Public Garden storm drain yesterday.
The heartwarming scene — which played out just a stone’s throw from the city’s beloved “Make Way for Ducklings” statues — ended with the lucky web-toed youngsters paddling back into the pond with their relieved mother.
The Brookline Bird Club was taking its weekly stroll through the Public Garden with students from The Learning Project Elementary School when Joy Chaisua, a bird club member, said the group spotted a “frantic” mother duck flapping around the area.
When a photographer walking with the group noted the duck had been seen with nine ducklings earlier in the week, Chaisua said they all took a look around and discovered the trapped baby ducks desperately peeping from a nearby storm drain.
“We looked down and we saw four of them in the drain pipe. They must have fallen in, and the mother was so frantic to get them out but she didn’t know how,” Chaisua said.
It was then that the photographer, whom Chaisua identified only as Peter, used a Red Sox cap to scoop the ducklings back out of the drain one by one.
“A few minutes later, we got them all reunited with their mother. It was wonderful,” Chaisua said.
“It felt so nice. It was our first walk of the season and it was foggy and rainy and no one wanted to come out, so to have that happen was a wonderful surprise, especially for the children,” she said.
As the happy little family waddled its way back toward the pond, Chaisua said a round of applause broke out.
“Everyone was clapping for Peter,” she said, “and when I asked him if he wanted me to send him the pictures, he just smiled and said, ‘No, I don’t want to be a bother.’ ”
The ducklings’ terrifying ordeal prompted Chaisua to fire off an email to the Friends of The Public Garden and Mass Audubon to see if there’s anything they can do to repair the grate.
“There are a lot of eggs being hatched in that garden right now and I’m worried more ducks are going to fall through that hole,” Chaisua said.
“What probably happened was the mother walked over the grate and one by one her ducklings fell in,” she said. “I want to make sure these ducklings don’t die.”