I live near Lake Sammamish and have a very tiny pond in my yard. Through
the spring I've enjoyed seeing adult mallards in singles and pairs fly in,
swim around a bit, eat cracked corn from a bird feeder, and always fly away
in the evening. I assumed they were just feeding here and nesting somewhere
else, since there are many predators in the neighborhood (cats and coyotes,
to name two) and I don't think there's much natural protection in my yard.
Today I was out weeding a few feet from the pond when a pair flew in and
landed on the water, and next thing I noticed, there were 11 fuzzy ducklings
swimming around with them. As dusk fell, it appears Mrs. Mallard is
essentially sitting on top of them all, next to the little pond. (I didn't
see Mr. Mallard around, but didn't get too close, as I didn't want to
disturb her).



I'm a bit concerned about them, as I'm not sure that swimming into the
middle of that tiny pond will protect them should a predator come along.
I'm hoping that they know what they're doing, and since they're wild birds I
don't actually feel too responsible for them-nature will have its way, and I
don't suppose that all eleven ducklings can be expected to survive to
adulthood. But it would be distressing to have Duck Armageddon on my watch.
Can anyone tell me how these ducks typically protect their young from
predators, and is there anything I can do to help them, short of essentially
treating them as domestic ducks and building a duck house or something?



Thanks

Barb Miller

Bellevue, Washington

Bmill07(AT)Comcast(DOT)net