I saw more ducks in the canal than I did on Monday. As I walked through one shady spot about 200 feet long, I saw 22 ducklings sitting on the canal road. As I approached, the ducklings went into the water, and as soon as they entered the water, they split into two groups. I'm guessing they were from two families of ducks.
A couple of weeks ago, I was walking with a grandson along the canal, and we saw two families of ducklings swimming in the canal. The ducklings were much smaller than those I saw today. As the two families approached each other, the mother of one family began hissing at the ducklings of the other family, and she chased them away. I guess she didn't want her children mixing with those of the other family. Today, though, the two groups were mixed together while the ducklings were on the maintenance road. The ducklings were about the same size, quite large, and I didn't see larger ducks that would be the mothers. These ducklings are big enough to take care of themselves, and the mother ducks may have flown away for good.
One thing I've noticed in the past is that I never see Drakes swimming in the canal with the mothers and the ducklings. I guess the Drakes are out scrounging for food or something. Before the ducklings are born, I did see pairs of ducks, one male and one female, swimming together.
