Oh dear!

Remember how I wrote a couple of days ago that in this picture it was probably the last time until end August we'd see all 10 youngsters sleeping together?  Well, WRONG!  This is them just after lunch today:

You won't believe the time we've had with them since yesterday, especially yesterday, but I'd better start at the beginning:

Duck duties in the morning went fine, I sorted all 3 stations with food and water, 3 eggs again at the bottom, 1 of them just dark green rather than black, and 4 again in the new [for them] hut which Ben and the 4 girls left cautiously rather than in the normal morning rush.  The 5 separated drakes didn't even go for their favourite breakfast, rushed straight to the gate where they could see the girls.

The morning went by with the 5 boys spending nearly all the time at the gate, a couple of times I could see that Captain had rushed in and was raping the brown Praline against the gate where she'd obviously tried to escape from him.  The 5 boys tried to join in the proceedings through the closed gate - it must have been very frustrating for them.

At lunchtime, I'd nearly finished eating, I could see that Bless had come to the fence by the garage, and she was able to push through to the boys' side because John had left a little gap next to the fence pole when he'd come through.  3 boys were directly on top of her, I charged out and chased all 6 of them into the shed where I managed to get hold of Bless in the communal fluttering and threw her back into the enclosure ......... since then I've been the big bad wolf with the 5 drakes.  When I turned round after having thrown Bless over they scattered  and flew towards the stile and beyond, trying to get back through to our side by clambering over the big bank of sticks and compost which closes off our ditch.  I clapped my hands and shouted, and could see four of them flying towards their shed and disappearing behind it - where was the fifth?  I searched a bit without success and then came back over the stile to try and locate the 4 I'd seen.  They had vanished without a trace!

Well, I knew that all 10 had at one time or another managed to get through the hedging between the Post Office and us, but I couldn't see or hear any of the four on our side or next door, it was eerie.  John came and helped to look around, and he eventually spotted a bit of white [big H!] hiding on the Post Office side.  We decided to go back into the house hoping the lads would return by themselves.  Shortly after we saw Tuts coming back from beyond the stile, and then he vanished as well.  Gradually, one after the other, we could see the boys coming back from the other side and taking up their station next to the gate on girl-watch.  It was touching to see the 2, and then 3, who had returned shouting for the remainder, they kept running back towards the hedge so we knew they were hiding there although we had been unable to see them.  Georgie was the last to come out, and that was a good hour after I scared the 4 into the hedge, I really must have frightened them.

To try and stop up the holes they [and next door's cat!] had been using for through traffic to the Post Office garden I went out to fetch tools and plastic fencing.  I caused panic again as soon as I came out of the house, the 5 boys cowering in a dark corner behind the shed.  To let them calm down first I started to do a bit of weeding under the big cherry tree, and after a little while the draw of girl watching lured them out and to the gate again.  That was my chance, I blocked off their route to the back with my large container of weeds and started chopping holly, brambles and rhododendron to make a path for the plastic fencing to go through, thus blocking off the holes.  By 5 o'clock I had blocked off three quarters of the way, but it was tea time and I was scratched up and tired.  We left the boys to their gate watch and hoped for the best.

At duck bed time the real fun started.  John went out first, and the 5 drakes actually went into their shed, but came out again before he could shut the door on them.  So John carried on towards the bottom 5 and I went out to join him for the anticipated difficulties with the "middle 5".  The 5 boys were on their way into the shed again when I came out, but as soon as they saw me they shot behind it, all pushing into the furthest corner where there was a gap which I'd put netting against.  Big 'H' fluttered and fluttered against it until he actually went over, and wedged himself into the little gap on the other side.  I thought ok, I know where he is, let me find the other 4 - they'd vanished again.

I had a fruitless effort trying to put in Ben and 4 girls, they went up the ramp, 2 went into the hut, out again, away again ..... so I went to join John at the bottom hut who'd just seen our 4 boys parading past on the other side of our ditch, in the wild country, all brambles and thickets  - where I'd seen fox cubs playing -  before the land dips down into the water meadows.

The bottom 5 safely shut in we both went over the stile in search of our 4 runaways.  I came across cat Lucy who sat staring at me dumbfounded because I wasn't chasing her.  There are huge thickets in that area, I couldn't see any movement, but there was a little rustling sound and then, John had come from the far side, I saw 3 of our drakes appear.  The moment they saw me they shot back into the thicket, big bad wolf still!

John said we should leave them, they would surely come back by themselves.  We went instead to shut up Ben and the girls, and although we had to use the plastic fencing to stop them jumping off the ramp again it was a lot easier than the night before.  Then I went to get 'H' out of his hiding place.  Because I'd moved the plastic netting again so he could get out he was out, but nowhere to be seen.  Just then the 4 runaways were coming up the garden, and because I didn't want to frighten them any more I crouched behind the shed hoping they wouldn't see me.  John, by that time, had spotted 'H' who'd gone through to the Post Office again through a hole in the hedge I hadn't fenced off yet, and of course the 4 went to greet him and saw me.  Whoa!, all 5 off again through the stile and into the wilderness.  It was difficult to see by then, so we left them to return by themselves as they'd done before.

We had a Heritage Group meeting last night and went to get washed up and ready for that, all the time looking out to see if the boys would come back - they did eventually, it was nearly 7 and very dark.   We could see only three of them until they brought on the garage light.  They did go into the shed by themselves that time and were safely shut in by John.


This morning started roughly the same as yesterday, but as the middle 5 had got more used to their new surroundings and the open gate at the greenhouse side they made their way further into the garden and turned up at the dividing fence.  Our 5 outcast drakes were still girl watching, of course, so they were running up and down the fence I'd mended trying to find a way through.  We had a look now and again, the fence seemed to hold .............. until we saw that Jay-Z and 'H' were running around on the other side chasing the girls and being chased by Captain and Ben. Neither of us could pluck up enough get-up-and-go to start chasing and separating again, we just stood and watched and dreaded the thought of what would happen tonight at their bed time.

At this point 3 of the drakes were still on our side of the fence trying to get through, you can see Tuts and Joseph at the very bottom right of this photo and Georgie just to the left of the Forsythia ball.  Very soon after Georgie found a way through.  I could see Joseph trying and trying all along the fence, and then he was through, so there were at least two holes in the fence I hadn't spotted in my mending.  This left Tuts on his own on our side, obviously not the brightest button in the box.  John took pity on him and opened a section nearest the garage and guided Tuts through, happiness and relief was written all over Tut's back as he ran to join his mates.

After a bit of altercation with the other group our 10 younsters came jointly back towards us and the food station near their shed.  They were happy together again, we worry about what will happen tonight ....

I decided to stop worrying about our ducks and went and made use of the plentiful duck eggs, baking 4 sponge cakes for freezing

 

 and loads of Spätzle.

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PS: All 10 were in the enclosure at bed time and we tried the rigid plastic netting to try and guide them all into the "new" old hut.  The 4 girls went in and stayed in, but Ben went off with the other 5 boys.  So John said "for heaven's sake let's try and get all 10 into the shed and be done with it."  It wasn't quite that easy, we let the 4 ducks out again, but the 6 drakes went running around the garden while John shut the bottom 5 in, and THEN we managed to drive all 10 into the shed.  No nest box in there now, the eggs will be trampled in the morning!