At the end of February – when there was significant snow on the high fells the ducks came back to visit the pond and check it out. We say they came back – last year we had a nest of duck eggs in the foliage on the edge of the car park – complete with a sitting duck. . . The nest was a bit vulnerable so we shielded it with one of the cars.
Sadly though this tale does not end well. When the ducks hatched the mother duck led them off down the lane. It was bad timing because a tractor appeared and the goslings took fright – some falling into a drain. We managed to lift the cover and get them out – but mother duck was nowhere to be seen – so we carefully put them in the field and hoped that she would return to find them.
Whether these ducks are the same as the ducks of last year we will never know – but we hope they have better luck if they create a nest this year. We see them from time to time investigating all the ponds in our garden. They obviously like it here!
