Wild ducks nested all ducklings died - help!

[mspitstop]

We have a pond in a walled garden (no access by foxes, cats scared off by dogs!) in the centre of Newcastle.

I was delighted when a pair of wild ducks took up residence and nested. Four days ago 11 ducklings appeared and we corralled the dogs to give them some space. Despite this we came home to find the lawn littered with dead ducklings. Only four were left, then three and then we found 2 floating in the pond and 1 has disappeared leaving us with none.

Does anyone have any idea what happened? We have a healthy pond, no running water through it but it supports a thriving community of frogs who breed well every year. I thought perhaps it was crows or magpies but the ducklings were not eaten or badly damaged.

Also is she likely to nest again and what can we do to help them survive? Quite willing to build a pen to keep them in until they are bigger but is this fair for wild ducks?

Advice anxiously awaited!

[tcvarlh]

Terribly sorry to read your post, it is distressing when this happens. Have you inspected the cadavers for wounds of any sort? Do you have 'normal' neighbours? I don't want to imply anything obviously but 'there's nowt as queer as folk'. Anyone have an air rifle? That sort of thing. Perhaps taking the bodies to the RSPCA might give you a clue.
Most animals would have taken the prey with them and not left the corpse on the grass.

h

Wish you well for the next brood if it happens (doubtful though)

[King Edward]

Was there enough food for them in the garden - could they have starved?

[tcvarlh]

Also a possibility that, starvation. I hadn't given it a thought.
h

[werdnal]

I would agree that if it had been an animal predator, they would have eaten or carried away the carcasses.

Ducks usually head off for large ponds or lakes, as soon as their broods hatch - often walking them quite some distance if they choose to nest away from water. I assume this is for safety of being able to escape land based predators, and better sources of food. I would second possibly the food issue being a cause. What did they have to eat? Young birds need to eat little and often - is it possible they starved. Did the mother duck show any sign of wanting to leave the garden and lead them away somewhere?

You say you have a pond, but I doubt it would be large enough to support such a brood for any length of time.

[tcvarlh]

Eminently possible given such a large brood too! My initial idea of a human agent was due to personal experience of such 'Mensch'.
h

[STYRBJORN]

Just how foxproof is your garden? They are deceptively good climbers, and the pattern of killing all the ducklings and taking just one away is very fox-like. A fox can clear a 6-foot fence.

[Bobby D]

So sorry to hear of this disaster. Any one of the explanations given above could be the cause.
PS thinking about this I cannot see that starvation would be the answer. I can't imagine seven ducklings dying of starvation on the same day, if it had been one or two ducklings each day over a period of say a week then I would be more inclined to go down the route of starvation but as I say not with seven dying in the one-day . I think a predator of some kind is the most likely answer.

[mspitstop]

Thanks everyone - our wall is 10 foot high and really is foxproof.

She did try and take them for a walk - but I had left out mixed bird grain - too big for babies?

None of them showed sign of injury apart from one which had blood around the beak.

I can't imagine it really was starvation as three of the ducklings were found right up at our front door where they never really ventured.

Its very sad - poor Mummy duck.

I am going to have a go at building a pen anyway and hope that she has another go.