For three consecutive seasons a pair of mallards raised a brood in our Somerset garden. The adult pair
would arrive mid-March and spend much of the day on or near the pond where they mated but they also flew off elsewhere
from time to time. During the first season with us the female sometimes laid an egg on the lawn or in a flower bed:
almost as though she was learning the process.
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In each case the nest site was near the house and either hidden by a curtain of low-hanging ivy,
or on top of a wall, surrounded by ivy. When hatched, the ducklings would follow their mother
to the pond to feed. The male was rarely seen.
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Surprisingly no predation was witnessed although the brood did occasionally have to hide in undergrowth until danger passed.
They were wary of human presence but if you acted naturally they were less stressed.
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