A Mallard Duck Family for Worldbird Wednesday

Such a common , ordinary, often sighted species you say, "Why feature it on this meme?" Just count the number of ducklings in this group and you will understand why. Just count the number of ducklings!!! How many do you see? sometimes I count 13, sometimes I count 14! I know of two others who have seen this group and they say there are just 12! But such a large surviving group! Wow!Does anyone know the average expected size of a Mallard's clutch of eggs? When I saw them ahead of me walking on the same trail as I was, headed in the same direction, to a nearby pond, I couldn't believe my luck. And of course I followed them and watched as they entered the water, seemingly all in a jumble as there were so many of them.
If there were awards being given out for best duck mamas of the year I would nominate this magnificent Mallard Mama! She seemed very content and unhurried as she shepherded her large group into the pond waters. There must be few predators around as she appeared unworried as I stood close nearby taking pictures. I was anticipating and waiting for a shot of them all sailing across the pond, all in a line. But it never happened. They all stayed close to the shore in a group near their Mama.
I wonder if camaflogue is part of their survival technique? The photo above is the last time I saw them the next day, see how well they blend into their surroundings!

note: I have not re sized any of the photos so double clicking on each photo will give you a very large size view of each picture!

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What a TREAT THIS SIGHTING WAS!!!!