Close encounters of the duck kind

What a fascinating experience! I was sitting at the edge of the dock yesterday afternoon, feet trailing in the water, watching the fish swimming all around me when I spied Mother Duck and her eight babies making their way toward me. They make this trip daily. I know that she's not terribly afraid of humans, but I didn't know just how fearless she is.

She and her brood swam to within about twelve inches of my feet. I could hear her soft quacking and started speaking to her, quietly, calmly. She didn't move, but did cast a wary eye on me. You could see that she was listening and when I was quiet, she started making that soft quacking noise again, but didn't move away. Her babies were totally unconcerned, all gathered around her, some stretching their legs, others nuzzling themselves, some just swimming in circles around the rest of them. Mother kept an eye on me and when I slowly took my feet out of the water (she IS, after all, a wild creature and I'd rather be cautious), she started to move away. When I started talking to her again, telling her how beautiful her family was and how she's doing a great job of looking after them, she came right back to her spot in front of me, eyed me, did that soft little quacking and then took her brood and moved on.

I've never experienced anything like that; it was truly as if we were having a conversation. The babies were adorable, still covered in down, but feathers beginning to grow. We know that she started out with nine ducklings; somewhere along the way, one of them probably became another creature's dinner. It's an experience I'll never forget.