Lucky In Love

Lucky and September today                        Baby September

Finally Lucky was going to have her own family.  She sat so patiently on her nest and rarely ventured out for a swim.

If a duck can smile she was smiling.

Her nar-do-well baby daddy was not all that attentive but waddled around as noisy as ever and looking like he was all that.

But Lucky just sat and sat and sat for months.

After a Google search I realized that probably these eggs were not going to hatch.  It had been too long since they were laid and it broke my heart to see her miss beautiful days on the pond still hoping to be a mother.

I would try to coax her out from under the shrub but she would not be moved.

One day  while I was away from home Papa Joe sent me a blurry photo on my phone.  I had to call to ask what the heck it was?

It was a tiny little black duckling sitting on Lucky's back.  Lucky's baby duck had been hatched!

They looked like the most precious salt and pepper set you ever saw.

But Lucky would not get off her nest.  She is a mother through and through and would not abandon those other eggs.

Dr. Steve informed me that the rest of the eggs were not fertile so with trembling hands I tossed them in the pond.

At that point Lucky and her hatchling jumped into pond life and they have been inseparable ever since.

One of the little girls who visits the pond often named Lucky's duckling -- September (her birth month). 

Lucky shows September the wonders of the pond.  She taught him how to get in and out of the water, peck for worms on rainy days, stay away from the undesirable character ducks, and enjoy life in general.

 Unfortunately September looks nothing like his mommy but is some kind of strange hybrid of his Peking duck daddy and his Muscovy mom.  But he is beautiful to her.

September loves his momma in a country music song kinda way. He tolerates her hovering and lets her show him off unashamed.    If he ever gets the Nobel Prize -- she'll be the first one he thanks.

Although he has become full grown and towers over his mother she is always at his side.

She lets him eat first, get the best feed and even when she gives him the dignity of a little space she is close at hand with one eye on him at all times.

I think if we could sit down over a cup of tea  she would confirm to me indeed -- She is a Lucky Duck.