When we received a call that a mother duck had been hit by a car and subsequently died leaving her six orphaned day old ducklings at Sechelt Marsh, volunteer Barbara Lee Fraser and Irene knew we needed to rescue them. The ducklings had been on their own for two hours before we were notified.
They hurriedly drove to the Marsh and when they arrived, they spotted the ducklings. They were frantically swimming from one adult duck to another, peeping all of the time. Having no mother to round them up, they were “all over the Marsh”. Irene and Barbara Lee knew they had a difficult job ahead of them if the ducklings were to be saved. There was no way they could catch the ducklings as they were not near the shoreline, so they asked Charlene Clarke from Sunshine Kayaking if she could help. Charlene brought her kayak to the Marsh and herded the ducklings, one by one to the shore
Even tiny ducklings can run fast and it was not easy trying to catch them. A number of spectators watched the drama unfold and one of them, Kelly, decided not just to watch the action but to become involved! She waded into the Marsh, along with Barbara Lee and Irene, and eventually all of the ducklings were safely in a box lined with soft towels.
Soon the ducklings were snuggled together in a warm kennel cab in our Centre and gradually over the next few weeks they grew their adult feathers and were transferred to our outdoor aviary. One warm, sunny day Irene, Barbara Lee and Kelly watched six healthy full grown young ducks be released back into the Marsh. Thanks to the efforts of Irene, Barbara Lee, Kelly and Charlene, those small lives were saved. With team work anything is possible!