I had an interesting query come in one evening this week; a duckling 'almost' had been found alone, with no sign of it's mother.

This does unfortunately occur quite a lot, and is why the mother duck has such a large number of babies - she sadly does expect to lose quite a few along the way. Some simply will get left behind, or wander the wrong way when being taken to water for the very first time. Others will fall prey to crows/magpies/herons/cats. Then of course there are often our busy roads to cross with all the dangers therein.

Hence, the single 'duckling' was not unusual, but the breed of bird itself was less common;

This, is a baby Goosander, which is a fish-eating type of duck, and a member of the sawbill family - named for their serrated beaks. While these birds are not rare, and are on the green conservation list, it IS uncommon for them to be brought into the rescue, and I have only had probably a dozen in the past 46 years of being at Three Owls.

This one was rescued in Yorkshire, and I understand was transported over to Whitby Wildlife Rescue for its onward care and return to the wild.

Nigel