Seven ducklings

Yesterday afternoon while sitting upstairs on the deck, I heard a rustling and a low, and different, quacking sound coming from along the shore.

I went down to investigate and to my surprise, it was Muriel with 7 newly hatched babies.

I've seen her at this same spot every evening for at least the past three weeks and thought her nest might be nearby.
It turns out, it was in the tall ferns beside our boathouse.

I guess her different quacking sound was to call them out of the ferns and to her side in the water.

I tossed out a little bit of seed for her and she gobbled it up. Her ducklings stayed behind her and weren't making the familiar peeping sound just yet.

The babies watched their mum feed and copied her.  They also began making the familiar peeping sound.

It didn't take long for these new little lives adapt to their environment. I guess that's why there's the term "a duck takes to water".

Now they have a huge battle for survival.
There's a massive snapping turtle at the end of the bay that regularly cruises the shoreline.
A Blue Heron also scopes out potential food on the shoreline on a daily basis as it sits motionless in shallow water. And of course there are big fish that will snatch a duckling from underneath the surface, while owls and hawks will swoop down from above.

Human activity, dogs, boats…you name it also pose threat.
In a few weeks the "Duck Whisperer" (a.k.a. the neighbours nephew) will be here and perhaps he can aid as guardian for these precious little lives.