As you read yesterday, I was all happy and hopeful that the new brood from hen mother Margot would thrive and grow in Botany Pond. Well, once again it was not to be. Sometime in the morning, only a few hours after they entered the pond, they all disappeared. I had no idea what had happened, but kept watching the pond.
A few hours later, an undergraduate named Gabby, who loves the pond, emailed me that four ducklings were huddled together on a rock in the channel, and one was floundering in the thick algae in the channel. I ran down to the pond with my net and a “duck box”: a small box lined with old but clean teeshirts which I keep ready to harbor rescued ducklings.
Sure enough, I found five ducklings. Four were standing on the rocks in the channel, completely sodden. Another was nearby, trying to swim through a thick mat of algae and failing. Two others we later found dead on the rocks in the main pond.
What happened? I think the ducklings simply got mired in the thick algae floating on the pond surface, or dove and surfaced within it, coating themselves with algae and becoming wet (ducklings have no inherent oil in their feathers as they get it from being underneath mom). All the live ones were completely soaked, and I feared for their lives.
The next six photos are by Gabby, the undergrad who discovered the mishap and emailed me. The first is the duckling mired in algae, which I picked up and dunked underwater to free it from the stuff:
Four completely soaked ducklings:
It was pitiful:
They were so wet that their skin was visible:
These were only one-day-old babies, and I had to get them dry immediately. I put them in a “duck box” and took them to my office, where I had to dry them off. The box was put by a space heater underneath my desk, which keeps them warm and helps them dry off. This is before drying:
It took me an hour and a half to dry them off. I alternated among the ducklings so I didn’t handle each one for a long time. I used the lab equivalent of Kleenex—Kimwipes—to gently stroke them and blot them. Those who looked poorly I put in the rolled-up tee-shirt, making a pouch to keep them close to my body.
I then left them for an hour, giving them a little shallow dish of water into which I crumbled baby duck food. When I looked again, they were all pretty dry, fluffy, and also vigorous. None of them looked close to death. At 2 p.m., right before the World Cup Game, I drove them to Dorothy, the local representative of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, who would keep them until they go to the Willowbrook Wildlife Sanctuary, where they’ll be tended well. I was satisfied that none of them had been fatally soaked.
I saved five but two died before I could get to the Pond. That makes seven, and Margot had nine or ten. I don’t know what happened to the others; I did a sweep of the pond several times and they’d all disappeared.
I blame the algae for this one. Without it, I think the brood would have grown up fine and fledged in September. Nearly the entire bottom of the pond is covered with a thick mat of algae, and much of the surface is, too, which I’ve circled in this photo:
The reason there’s algae is that the sun beats heavily on the pond, facilitating the plant’s growth. If there were trees to shade it (several were removed) or water lilies to float on top (they planted a few in pots, but they are not going to spread as the bottom is gravel), we wouldn’t have this problem. Every two weeks, at great expense, the University has to pay for two guys to go into the pond and haul up great armfuls of algae, but it’s a losing battle. They can never remove more than a fraction of the growth.
One of the algae-removal guys told me that this was predictable and the University should have known this beforehand; and I think that’s true. Whoever decided to put a gravel bottom on the pond, and then plant a few measly containers of grass and water lilies thinking they’d spread, was completely out of their depth.
I don’t know if they can get rid of the algae and prevent its future growth, but this design error cost the lives of four or five ducklings yesterday, not to mention the separation of Margot from her brood and the great joy that a brood of ducklings brings to the University community. I am angry and very sad at the same time. The three previous broods were either saved and rehabbed (one brood) or walked out of the pond when Mom was harassed by drakes (two broods). That could not be helped, but the algae could have been. I am powerless to do anything about it, but yesterday marked the end of an annus horribilis for ducks. I’m not looking forward to next year.
The ducklings yesterday before disaster struck:
Not all heroes wear capes.
Perfect.
Jerry, way to go!! I don’t blame you for being angry re the foreseeably awful pond design. I’m stunned. I thought a huge part of the renovation was to make the pond circulate and prevent algae scum build up. And I assumed the people in charge of it consulted with experts and did it right–especially given how long it took! If you can see in any budget how much they spend on the algae removal–necessary if you want a decent pond in your quad, completely aside from ducklings–you could add it up and point out that it would be cheaper to drain the pond before next year and get rid of the gravel. Geez.
Yes, and they know my feelings about the algae and pond. But I cannot tell Facilities what to do, for we have to keep a good relationship. They have helped me a lot with the ducks in the past, for example building a barrier around Esther when she nested on the ground last year.
I would be happy to contribute $$$ for any permant solution to remove algae from the pond. What a horrible way for a poor little ducking to die! And knowing it will happen AGAIN if it’s not dealt with properly, means the University needs to act. Creating a beautiful deathtrap for baby ducklings is not a selling point.
Yes! Maybe Facilities and higher-ups would not object to a GoFundMe appeal. Maybe if they did object someone(s) outside UoC would make a stink about it…. I expect that dead duckings are something UoC would very much prefer to avoid being publicly associated with.
I was so happy when I read about the ducklings’ return last night, and then to wake up to this. Annus horribilis indeed.
It’s a small comfort that you were able to rescue those bedraggled ducklings in the nick of time. At their tender age, I’m sure they wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
Glad you rescued five but most unfortunate overall. If there’s a design problem that’s encouraging algae I guess it’s over for duckling success.
Glad that you rescued some of them at least. It’s not easy keeping a small, man-made waterway healthy. When I was a kid and went crazy for home aquaria, the big thing was the “balanced aquarium,” a mythical creature where air, water chemistry, and all organic inputs and outputs, were all kept in balance. It was easy to wreck the balance: too much food, too much light, not enough aeration, snails run amok, water changes not frequent enough, new water not aged enough, introducing a new fish, a new plant, and more. The same must be the case with Botany Pond, where it’s even harder to control the inputs and outputs.
Who knew that this would be the summer of the demon algae? The ducks are lucky that you and your helpers are keeping an eye out for their safety, and I’m so sorry to hear of the loss of half of the ducklings. Perhaps the the folks in charge of the pond will consider making some changes in their maintenance practices or in the pond itself. I know that’s probably asking too much, but . . .
It shouldn’t be too much to act at all! UC is a prestigious university that spent a lot of money to create a beautiful safe environment. They now know they have a problem, but fortunately it can be fixed. Inadvertently creating a deathtrap for baby ducklings is not a good look.
Any clue what happened to momma duck? It seems strange that she would abandon four little ones who were presumably calling for her from their rock perch.
No idea. They certainly couldn’t follow her if she went to them. They were no longer able to swim.
How heart-breaking. Thank you for yet another duck rescue. I can’t remember but has ANY brood successfully fledged out from the newly renovated pond, or was that all pre-renovation? I am so surprised with all the expertise available that the University could not design a better pond environment. They could have used this as a project that students in engineering and ecology classes worked on together. There is a lot of research into pond design — use of aerators, fish, plants, insects, etc. that they could have drawn on. Anyone else see an analogy to the Washington DC reflecting pool fiasco?
Yes, last year Esther had, as I recall, six babies that all fledged. But none of the four this year could survive in the pond, largely because of aggressive drakes but, with the latest one, the proliferation of algae.
Saving five wee ducks was much to be grateful for. PCC(E), you knew just what to do to save their lives. About the rest, too sad to comment further.
Where was Mom during this time?
Tragic.
That amount of algae is bad for ducks. As I’ve mentioned before, there are many things you can do to get rid of it, or at least keep it under control.
You can get wildlife safe algaecides, but there are many other solutions.
The water lilies you have will spread, but they don’t grow that fast. You may need to plant more. Presumably, the people who planted the current ones knew to use aquatic compost, not ordinary soil as the latter encourages algae.
Moving water deters some types of algae, and you can get solar fountains that float on the water that will make the water move if you can’t arrange for a permanent water feature.
It is also recommended to put mesh bags filled with barley in the pond, although that didn’t make much difference to my own pond.
There are many oxygenating plants that don’t need soil and you can just drop them into the pond to starve the algae from the nutrients it needs eg hornwort and frogbit. I have egeria densa in mine, but you would need to google what suits your own climate.
There are biological pond treatments that can introduce good bacteria to help with the condition of the pond, but I don’t know much about those.
Another natural option is to introduce algae eating snails. There are several suitable species and you can google which are best for your region.
You can also shade the pond with duckweed, ducks absolutely love it, but it grows so fast that ducks can’t keep up with it so it can sometimes become a problem itself.
As there seems to be so much algae in the pond, your first option might be to get an even bigger team of volunteers with wellington boots to go in and rake it out. It makes good compost if you have any flower beds nearby.
It will die off, but it will certainly come back again next year if you don’t deal with the root cause of why it grows there.
As your contacts say, it does sound like the pond was badly designed by someone who doesn’t understand ponds, but there are things that you can do to improve it. 🤞
what he said. 😀
Those poor little things, a heroic effort. Would’ve been worse.
Perhaps they could cover the pond temporarily with shading balls? Could some fish be brought in that would eat the algae?
What are your stats on ducklings fledged before pond “renovation” vs. after?
Oh no! And after yesterday’s happy news, too. An Anas (platyrhynchos) horribilis indeed!
It seems it’s not only the guys who did the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. that need to have a rethink.
So sorry this happened. Grateful that you saved the tiny little ducklings. Wish they woukd fix the poorly designed pond.
Jerry, the amount of work that you put in —in saving ducks—amazes me. We are more or less of an age, and you are describing considerable physical effort, as well as emotional cost. I take my hat off to you, sir. I don ‘t know how you do it.
I imagine that you have considered every angle to trying to convince the university to solve the algae problem, and I certainly know how important it is to stay on the good side of those who manage university infrastructure. So I cannot suggest any solutions—except to send you emotional support from another animal lover from thousands of miles away.
I raise a dram of 30 year old malt whisky to you. May your efforts succeed in saving worlds of ducklings.
I’m curious whether the current design attempted to solve or avoid a different set of problems, and whether the measures required to do so unavoidably introduced one of its own.
My wife and I have a beautiful one-acre pond—and no ducks. Jerry has ducks, a defective pond, and marauding drakes. Life is not fair!
I enjoy your Duck Life immensely. Its like my Puppy Life here though you don’t get to play APARTMENT FRISBEE with your charges.
Sorry about the departed but as you told me a few years ago when I lost the little fledgling I rescued from the Avenue downstairs from stiletto death: “The little ones die easily.”
Onwards DuckHero!
D.A
NYC
I wasn’t sure what to do in this situation (I didn’t know what even waterlogged is) but so happy you came so quickly to help! I am so happy to hear the good news about those we rescued.