So just to recap, last year we had a duck nesting in our garden and she had 14 chicks. Then a couple of months ago our duck came back and reared about 16 chicks. My good lady missed the new chicks as she went to work that morning without first doing a duck check (you should always do a duck check in the morning) and she was gutted. However, a couple of weeks ago I saw something swooping out of the sky from the corner of my eye and you'll never guess what it was… It was another duck! She landed in the garden and walked over to the same patch (just behind the lavendar) and nestled down on her newly created nest!

So that's going to be 2 lots of chicks raised in our garden this year in a plant bed measuring about a metre deep by 4 metres wide! Unbelievable. I guess we're getting a reputation in the local duck community as a safe haven for rearing chicks. I'll make sure this time I take the morning off when they hatch so I can get loads of pictures and some video of them frolicking around and formation marching to water!