Visitors in the yard

We have almost twenty ducks at our pond, a pair of geese, and regular visiting local Canadian geese. The local wildlife do not go hungry.... Raccoons enjoy regular meals of fresh eggs from the nests during the spring and summer. Foxes and coyotes have been treated to fresh meals as well. Sadly not a lot can be done about it. We have had one successful duckling hatched and raised in the 4 years we've had ducks. 

Two smart ducks have learned to come into the yard to lay. We then round them up after hatch and raise them for a few weeks until they're large enough to survive the catfish and turtles. They don't all survive but some do. This year we've had 4 clutches hatch and so far 1 survivor 🙄 The girls decided to have one more go at it and we released 15 young ducklings at the pond last Thursday. 

This morning they made their way back and are happily following the two young geese around. Silly ducklings! It'll be fun gathering them up for another trip out. Any volunteers?! 

UPDATE:

Volunteers not needed - they made their way back to the pond by mid afternoon! 😏