Mama Wood duck and her family for Outdoor Wednesday

There is a lot of action in the following first five pictures so to get the full visual benefit of their viewing it would be best to double click on the pictures to enlarge them.: the explanation as to what was happening follows. I often check this pond almost every day. In other years I have often found Wood Ducks there, but not so this year until Monday. I had pulled my car over to the gusrd rail that borders the edge of the road beside the pond water. All had been quiet until I saw much turblance of the water! A female Wood Duck with a hurt wing?? was frantically rushing back and forth in the water in front of me. The distinctive white of the adult's duck's eye immediately identified this duck as a female Wood Duck.










When her rushing back and forth activity had calmed down a bit she started vocalizing loudly and

all of a sudden I could see nine little baby ducks appear and start swimming towards the adult female. "Don't worry Mama Duck, I won't hurt your babies, all I want is their pictures", As I watched the little babies line up in twos, side by side they followed the mother duck as she

escorted them across the pond to the opening of a large drainage pipe on the other side. Swimming into the entrance of the pipe the Wood Ducks were 'home free' and hopefully lived happily ever after.

In the photo above you can see one little duck that has fallen behind. This little one last straggler continued behind throughout the escaping process but made it into the drainage pipe with the other babies and it remained with the duck family.





Outdoor Wednesday is a meme where you can vicariously view part of the magnificence of the great outdoors such as the photo above of the female Wood Duck and her young family.

Outdoor Wednesday found at http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ is a delightful meme that invites you to share the outdoors with others. The theme encompasses the outdoors, a topic within the theme of your choosing. to learn more of this meme or to share your view of the outdoors please click on the 'outdoor Wednesday' logo on the right of this page. Happy Wednesday outoor gathering to all