A picture-filled post. On my most recent visit to the Castlecroft section of the canal, there were three different sets of ducklings, each with their mallard mother, on one hundred yard stretch of the water.
Two of the broods looked like they had only been hatched on the previous day, perhaps even earlier that morning. The other chicks were already old enough to have lost their early fluffy cuteness.
The mother of what looked like the youngest set of all was keeping her young ones together in a very tight group as they swam along in the shadow of the far bank of the canal.