Thank you, Gerd, for the email with photos of when you first moved into No 5 Pinehurst with your young family, 46 years ago now - only 4 more and you will have completed your half century!
This is one of the photos with the rubble you had, I've added a similar one of mine on FB when we moved to Rainham, Essex with our young family:
My duck Caramel, front left in the photo above, got me worried last Tuesday. My friends Pat and Graham had come visiting in the afternoon, and as Pat has come into the habit of doing ever since the massive fox attacks last year she counted the ducks - and could make no more than 5. True enough, a thorough search of all three of us could not find the missing Caramel until ........ I looked more closely at a patch of greenery in the middle of the picture below, to the left of the geranium basket:
I have just found a photo from 15th July, Caramel setting off for the nest which I didn't know was there:
I messed up the photo I took of her sitting on it, but this is what the nest looked like, and there were 10 eggs in it!
Caramel was running around with the other 5 as normal for the rest of the afternoon and evening, but the next day, Wednesday 27th, I noticed that she didn't get off her nest at all, try as I might to shoo her off it, and she would not go into the hut after 9 when her mates were already in. Well, I couldn't leave her out there, a fox would get her. She fought hard and hissed at me, but I grabbed her by the neck and hauled her out - I still don't know how she managed to get in and out of that hidden place. I set her down by the food and water because I was sure she hadn't eaten or drunk all day, but she jumped straight into the hut.
The next morning she was the first one out and dived immediately into breakfast, she must have been ravenous!
I felt very sorry for her when she went off to sit on her eggs again and came out all disappointed. I had removed the eggs the night before [there were 11 of them by then] rather than having predators get them or even letting her sit on them for the next 28 days or so trying to hatch them ...
The call ducks have been very adventurous and exploring the ever widening fenced off area around their hut. Yesterday I didn't close their movable fence at all, and before long they were through the gate. Pato stayed lying near the ramp to the runner ducks' hut most of the day.
It was yesterday and today I noticed that my 6 "big " ducks are scared off their little neighbours, they would not go to their own food bowls until the Calls had left the coast clear!
I've been doing a lot of 'chopping' in areas that were so overgrown even the ducks could not get through. I've added below a few photos of them enjoying the evening sunshine and also of how well things are growing in greenhouse and conservatory.
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