2006

 
This year there has been a complete change of pattern. Many of our regulars failed to reappear. In particular, Mr and Mrs Duck did not return. We saw one duck that looked very much like Mrs Duck, but with a badly cracked beak and paired with a different drake, but she only came twice, and very briefly. Mr & Mrs Duck had been the first to come in 1998, and we miss them.

The season started much later than usual. The first to arrive this year was Little Curl on 4th April,and the next day he brought 3 other drakes with him.

Another old favourite to return was Dotty, but she did not come for long.

Numbers have remained much lower than usual, and most of our visitors have been very shy, often flying away if we opened the front door, or even if we looked out of the window. The favourite time for their visits has become very early in the morning, so we often wake up to find that almost all the corn had gone, but so have the ducks. Occasionally we have seen larger numbers - up to 8 at a time - but only if we happen to wake up at about 5 am.

4 drakes, April 2006