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Saturday, March 1, 2014

Ducklings released from accidental chicken wire cage on local pond


Photograph by Steve Cornish
Thanks very much to Simon Forster for raising the alert that ducks had made up a nest on a pontoon that was surrounded by chicken wire on Mahogany Pond.  The wire was installed to protect young plants on the pontoon, but it had no large holes put into it, which meant that any water birds that flew or clambered in to start nesting would find their chicks trapped in the nest.  And this is exactly what happened.  The photograph below shows them as they were before they were released.

Steve went and had a look at the situation and says that matters have been resolved and that the ducklings were reunited with their parents, who immediately ushered them off into the dense undergrowth.

Steve says that they will be cutting away all the chicken wire on all the other pontoons within the next week or so. The chicks can get through the larger mesh protecting the plants.

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous15/3/14 20:53

    Last week I saw a seagull which was trapped in one of the chicken wire enclosures on Canada Water dock (close to BHS). It was there in the morning and still there at 10pm. It had got in by entering a small hole in the wire nearest the wall, but couldn't find its way out again. It was quite frantic, so I went back with some old trousers and shoes on and jumped in to free it. I pulled up the wire all along the front edge to prevent this happening again. Les.

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  2. Andie15/3/14 21:01

    Much admiration for your actions, Les. Not sure that I would have been as confident to tackle either the dock or the seagull. These examples certainly mean that we do need to be vigilant at this time of year. Thanks very much for pointing it out (and for rescuing the seagull).

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