> Virtual walk > May 24 > Ducklings

Just below the old beaver dam from the summer of 2000, these ducklings were hiding with their mother behind some branches at the opposite edge of the creek. You can barely make them out in this picture, but I could see them moving in the shadows. I stood for awhile taking pictures to try to get a better view of them, but they just shifted around in their hiding place, led by their mother.

Finally, the mother duck could stand it no longer, and she took off downstream as fast as her legs could carry her — and that's really quite fast! The mother and the eight baby birds are almost just a blur in this picture and in several others I took before the family disappeared around a bend in the creek.

Next stop: Timothy