Where is Mama?

We have not seen sight nor feather of Mama for about 1o days now. We even put some food out but all we saw was a Wood Pigeon having a good feast. We are beginning to wonder if she is going to come back at all this year. We are away over Easter and would love to have some news to report on our return. Watch this space..........

The Balcony Opposite

She spots something and thirty seconds later flies off. I tried to catch her in flight but neither I nor my little camera were quick enough.
Mama Duck with a pigeon


Well, I was up with the lark looking at a duck! I saw Mama Duck on the balcony opposite this morning where she sat for about an hour and twenty minutes, snoozing, preening and ignoring pigeons. I am beginning to wonder if our balcony has fallen out of favour and the balcony opposite is now the balcony of choice........ It is interesting to note that Dada Duck is now nowhere to be seen.

This was on Monday. Mama Duck having a look down from the balcony opposite. She did not fly over to our balcony and just wandered off round the corner with Dada! It is now Wednesday and we have not seen her for a couple of days. We are hoping that she has not decided to nest elsewhere!

On my way home I spotted Mama and Dada having a swim in the Thames.

Mama having a snooze before waking up and quacking very loudly at other ducks to defend her territory- well she does have a very bijou residence
Mama and Dada on the balcony opposite just before Mama flew in to have her snooze

We then got our very first sight of Dada Duck!!!

Exploring the balcony for a suitable pot to make a nest in.


Mama is once again a regular visitor arriving at about 7.30 a.m and staying for half an hour making us avoid the bedroom and be late for work!!!

That was in 2008. Fast forward to March 2009 and once again a duck appears on the balcony. I was too slow with the camera and it is only on the third visit that I manage to get the first picture.

Mama Duck and the Seven Sisters
We are having a rest

The story so far.......

One Saturday morning last May l woke up to see a female Mallard on our balcony. When l looked again she had gone. Later Des asked me if l had been outside gardening as there was soil on the balcony floor. l looked and saw that there was an egg in a big blue pot where l had been growing this years tulips. Over the next 12 days another 7 eggs were laid, but we saw no sight of Mama Duck, as we had named her. Then she took up residence, sitting on the eggs for 28 days, and only flying off for an hour each evening to feed.

We went away on holiday in June but calculated that she would still be incubating upon on our return. The natural instinct for a mother duck when the eggs hatch is to get the ducklings to water the following morning. We live 5 floors up and they normally just go over the edge and float to the ground below. That is ideal when there is a nice, soft grassy landing below but we live above hard pavements and steps with railings. We sealed the balcony with a plastic dust sheet to prevent them falling to their death and put the R.S.P.C.A on alert. We also filled a large plastic tray with water as a temporary pond.....

On the Saturday evening when I was filling the pond I heard a small "cheep" and a tiny head popped from under Mama's wing. The timing was so fortunate. Overnight the other ducklings hatched. We saw Mama lead the babies into the temporary pond and enjoyed their first swim. The man from the R.S.P.C.A then arrived, with immaculate timing as Mama was getting a little stressed, and took them away to a local woodland pond. Being proud parents we visited every week and saw that amazingly 7 of them survived to reach adulthood.