Willamson's Weekly Nature Notes

The drakes on the old mill pond outnumber the ducks three to one. She has even co-responded with a white husband by the look of it, while some of her children have paler faces than the rest.

The one at the back has a lovely yellow eyestripe and the little one bottom left has a very dusky face. However, I wonder if mum is actually that promiscuous after all? When I was a small lad, I remember finding a wild duck's nest on the side of a straw stack on my father's Norfolk farm, which contained not only duck eggs but 10 pheasant's eggs as well.

There must be something comforting to other mothers about a big pile of down and the sight of all those smooth white eggs which makes them want to start their own family right there, without the bother of building a new home.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette April 8