April 2022 - Duck and Chicks

Well, it’s April, and Easter is on its way. Spring is always the nicest time of year, with the days getting longer and warmer, with the flowers and trees hiding their shapes under blossoms and leaves, and with birds and animals having their babies.

I love wandering around the Royal Parks, or going to farms to see the lambing, or going to the wetland centres to see the birds and their chicks. And they’re all there! Just seeing the parents of the chicks or fawns or calves, or whatever is a very heart-warming time. You can see the care that the parents put in to protecting their young, and the amount of attention and activity that has to be given to ensure that they grow up (and that is the first demand!) and grow up to know how to live in this world. I remember when I was still living with my parents, that their house had a large pond with a brick wall most of  the way around it – a wall that started off at ground level and gradually rose until it was about 1 metre high. Each spring the mother ducks would take their chicks and march them up this wall and tell them to jump off into the water. I guess they were teaching them to swim – but it was always so sweet to watch them going round and round, repeating this for days. 

In this photo, I have caught the mother duck with a whole load of chicks and trying to keep some sort of order. We have all seen the times when chicks have gone off on their own, to the far end of the pond, to some exciting reeds or to look for some more playmates. But when they get frightened and start making their high pitched ‘peeps’ then Mum comes to their rescue.

It’s not a great photograph – a bit too much happening in it to make it satisfy me. But the scene is lovely and very happy making!