Well another surprising breeding event has taken place at the Lake over the summer. We have regularly had musk ducks call in to the lake and stay for awhile,
but until this year we had not seen both male and female ducks at the same time. This year there were three female ducks observed and one male. We
did not observe any breeding behaviours, nor any nesting activity. Earlier this month a female musk duck with 2 young ducklings were observed. This
was confirmed again at the last bird count undertaken by the Millicent Field Naturalists when another 3 juvenile musk ducks were observed. So there
was not 1 but 2 recorded breeding events for Musk Duck at the lake this year.

The Musk Duck and her 2 ducklings. These little guys were the first recorded breeding of musk duck at the lake.

This is one of the three juveniles that were observed at Lake Mac during the course of the last bird count. These young guys were not observed as ducklings,
which just shows how the reed cover at the lake encourages secretive breeding behaviour which is always a joy to discover. No matter what time of year,
or how much, or how little water is present at the lake, there is always something new and interesting to see if you spent a little time.

The other exciting breeding event that has been happening regularly each year has been that of Blue-billed Ducks. This year was no exception with at least
2 successful breeding events. The ducks with their little ones like to stay in the cover of the reeds, but they will occasionally swim in the open
water to get to another patch of reeds. Once there they blend in very well and are hard to spot and even harder to photograph.

Here is a family of 7 ducklings, with mum, disappearing into the reeds.