I was fast asleep this morning, probably dreaming about tornadoes, when I was rudely awoken by the sound of mayhem in my garden. As I was jolted fully awake I realised it must have been the duck nesting in our garden as I could hear incessant quacking. Looking out of the window was such a lovely sight – it was our duck leading her flock of newly hatched chicks around the decking!

Since it’s Saturday morning we knew we didn’t have to go to work and could finally follow them around to see where they go. After letting her chicks frolic around she herded them together, somehow instructing them to rally underneath her and then spent around an hour keeping them warm while having a bit of shut-eye:

Then, with the flap of a wing, she decided it was time to move on and she started leading them in a line at a fair pace down our street with us and our friends (who were staying with us) in tow:

They were absolutely adorable and once other neighbours spotted what we were watching they came along to enjoy the spectacle. The duck then led her chicks down a cul de sac – much to our puzzlement as it was not towards water – and then proceeded to have a drink stop at a pond in one of the gardens. After that we decided to leave her to it and not interfere with what she was doing – it was clear that she had a plan.

And with that our duck and her chicks walked out of our life. I hope we’ll see them again soon!