WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Ducklings

July 6, 2011

After all of the spring rain and flooding this year, it's good to see so many mamma ducks and their ducklings out on Shelburne Pond! But, as naturalist Larry Clarfeld tells us, ducks are used to nesting in less than ideal conditions.

"Yes, it's hard to imagine that after all that rain, that they could pull through but they've been nesting near water for thousands of years so they're pretty resilient."

This time of year, they are just paddling around out there taking care of their young brood, but they've been harder to see in recent weeks.

"There seems to be this period of time in the spring where a lot of the ducks kind of disappear, and those females are sitting on those eggs incubating their nests, and kind of just undercover."

Now, the ducks are out more and that is actually one of the nice things about looking at ducks. Many birds stay hidden while they are raising their young, but once the ducklings hatch, these mothers are right out there in the open and it's really easy to get a look at them.

Where are the dads these days?

"Actually, a lot of the male ducks are not necessarily right around the young, but they're nearby. This time of year, they are actually starting to change and go into their drab winter plumage and they call this the eclipse plumage. In the process actually, many ducks go through a flightless period this time of year, when they can't even take off from the water."

"If you see ducks out in a kayak, it's best to keep your distance; you don't want to disturb that family. That mom really needs to be spending her energy looking for predators rather than being worried about you. But one of the nice things is when a bird looks at you, they won't see you in a kayak, they'll see this big shape that doesn't really look like a person so often times in a kayak you can get fairly close without disturbing them. But it's good to keep your distance and watch and just enjoy the show."

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