One Look Inside 'Ducky Day Care' Captures the World's Heart
Back-to-school season is approaching. For some it’s already here. Teachers are preparing for a lesson-filled year, while many parents are anticipating a break from having their kids at home 24/7.
Moms with several young children under a certain age are heroes in my book. It’s enough for me to handle one child in diapers at a time.
Yet I’ve seen mothers juggle multiple little ones at once. With a car seat under one arm and a pair of screaming toddlers on the other, these moms put superheroes to shame.
Imagine those numbers doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled. Imagine a mom with dozens of babies under her wings.
Impossible, you’d say? Perhaps if we’re sticking strictly to human terms it would be. Even certain animals wouldn’t be up to such a task.
Which is why the Mama Merganser spotted on Lake Bemidji in Minnesota this summer is truly fascinating.
Brent Cizek took his small plastic boat out in June for a day on the water. An amateur wildlife photographer, Cizek packed lightly, only carrying one lens with him that day.
He’d hoped to capture some photos of local wildlife, of course. But Cizek had no idea he would find something that would cause his photos to invite so much attention.
You have to see Cizek’s photos to believe what he found — a Common Merganser with no less than 50 ducklings in tow.
According to Audubon.org, it’s quite common for ducks to have their own “daycare” of sorts. Mother ducks are known to not only care for ducklings that aren’t their own, but they tend to lay eggs in multiple nests as well.
“One possibility would be, in a sense, not putting all their eggs in one basket,” Kenn Kaufman, a field editor for “Audubon,” said.
Cizek was enthralled with the Merganser and the dozens of ducklings in her care. Her started snapping photo after photo, hoping he’d happen to capture the perfect one.
“I probably shot 50 pictures,” Cizek shared. “And I was just praying that one was going to turn out sharp because the waves were so strong it was nearly impossible to even keep them in the frame.”
Lucky for us, Cizek’s photos of the mama and her flock turned out swimmingly. What an amazing mom! Look at all those mouths she has to feed!
Cizek is grateful for the love and attention his photos have received. He encourages his followers to make a donation to the Audubon Society.
The Audubon Society raises funds to protect birds and conserve their natural environments. They fund programs that work to create healthy habitats for birds both in the city and in the wild.
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