It's been a strange season for mallard ducklings. First there have been relatively few born; just two broods, one of nine and one of two ducklings. Secondly there was the way that the nine were taken off the moat directly and led away up the stream by the mother. The nine became four surviving ducklings and they have been seen from time to time on the moat whilst the two ducklings stayed around until they disappeared a few weeks ago. However no ducklings at all had been seen for several weeks until about ten days ago when the four plus mother started coming again and spending hours and days sleeping on the lawn by the moat (see picture). The youngsters are pretty nearly fully grown but still hang around as a family group with the mother watching out for them. The one with the head injury seems to get on perfectly OK so that has presumably healed up just leaving a circular scar. That is the thing with mallards, every brood is different and parenting techniques differ widely.
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