Oh! We have babies!!!

They are here! I was fixing dinner when Clay came to tell me tonight that "We are proud parents of 5 babies." I grabbed the camera and hurried out to the pond.. But mama had already gathered the babes together and was in the cattails hiding. I was disappointed but determined to snap a picture. Came inside  ate my dinner quickly and returned to where he said he saw her.

I parked myself in a chair and waited quietly. All of a sudden the  daddy duck made a circular pass of the pond and flew in.. Landed, swam around in a circle, bathed and quacked..and  

    Here they came out of the rushes..
     1, 2, 3, 4, 5 .........

but wait look closely not 5 but  6  Babies

Before mama introduced the babies to daddy, I observed an  amazing behavior.  As I sat there Daddy duck swam over to another part of the pond and started quacking Very angrily and loudly. Then I saw  another hen was swimming there and he actually chased her out of the pond and around the side of the pond before she flew away...I don't know if he was threatened by her or was protecting his new babies..

Watching these babies grow is going to be a favorite pastime now for sure.... I don't even want to think about the day they fly on.