Young shelducks on the river Exe at Topsham recently. The ducklings were perhaps a couple of weeks old when we saw them, so already quite big. It was also a large brood: thirteen ducklings.
The young ones were being assiduously cared for by both parents – quite often this task falls to the female alone in ducks. Indeed, we saw another set of shelduck young nearby being cared for by the mother alone.
The pictures were taken a little while before sunset, which was also around the time of the high tide that day.