The first few visits were uneventful. There would be a seagull or two swooping down or a large crow hovering in the crepe myrtle trees. Mockingbirds whizzed through the air like bombadiers protecting their nests from intruders. The aerial displays are quite entertaining and would put the Red Baron to shame.
One day I noticed two large ducks sitting on the bank. They weren't there everyday, but sporadically. After a couple of weeks went by what should appear but a mom duck and 11 ducklings! What a treat!
She brought her babies to the pond and I had the pleasure of watching her as she showed them how to swim and navigate over the next few days, always keeping them close. She'd cruise across the pond with her babies all in a row behind her never letting them get out of sight. They looked like little bobbing heads as they paddled their tiny feet trying to keep up with mom. She'd take them close to the bank where they lined up like soldiers at the water's edge and fed on bugs and whatever else was munchable and tantalizing.
When I got to work one morning, my co-workers, knowing that I checked in at the pond everyday, informed me that there had been an accident and the babies had had to be rescued.
It seems mom had the babies out in the parking lot and street area in the complex (we have no idea why or where she was going) and as she crossed the drain grates in the street, one by one, her babies had fallen through the grate. About a 3-foot drop!
Two of my fellow workers had gone outside for a break and had seen mom standing by the grate quacking and flapping her wings in a very agitated state. They investigated and saw the tiny ducklings in the drain hole.
Now, not only was mom flapping and carrying on, my two co-workers were also all a-twitter. You can just imagine the scene.
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