Numbers have been low, but with a slight increase on 2006. The biggest change has been that none of our named birds have come, apart from Dotty and the female with a badly cracked beak who came last year. Most have been very shy. Frequently they have flown away if we have even looked out of a window. On 5th July Fred spotted a mother duck with ten ducklings walking down our road. In all the years that the ducks have been visiting us, we have never seen ducklings near our house before. 
At the beginning of August we began to have large numbers again, rising to a record total of 27, all at the same time, on 10th September! We think these must have been ducklings, some of them quite possibly Dotty's, as Dotty was often also present at first. We now think that the group of drakes that arrived in August 2005 may also have been ducklings. This year we decided to carry on feeding, to see whether the numbers would eventually go down of their own accord, but we are now realising that numbers are, if anything, increasing.  24 presumed ducklings, 7th September 2007  10 ducks flying over our house, 10th September 2007 |